Warring Heart
by Krayzee Aussie
Summary: Sequel to 'Bleeding Heart' and 'Silent Heart'. After the fall of SHIELD, Steve Rogers has continued to mentor and lead the Avengers, while his Lieutenant continues to support him from the shadows. However, soon, they will be fighting a different war, where friends become enemies. If you have not yet read 'Silent Heart' and 'Bleeding Heart' then I highly recommend you do so.
1. Age Lines

**Welcome to the next saga in the 'Silent Heart' series.**

**I'm sure those that have been following for a while can see a trend here.**

**If you haven't yet, I highly recommend you go and read 'Silent Heart' and 'Bleeding Heart' first, in that order. Otherwise, this whole thing might now make sense.**

**As always, own nothing Marvel, and any likeness in my original characters is purely coincidental.**

**In this continuation, we continue to follow Sarah Jones, the mystery offsider of Steve Rogers that has been with him since WWII, who has her own dark secret. This fic continues through Captain America:Civil War movie.**

**Enjoy**

**xo**

* * *

**Warring Hearts**

**Chapter 1**

**Age Lines**

Steve and Sam walked up the stairs, toward the mezzanine along the edge of the room. Tony Stark had decided to throw a party, since they had managed to reacquire the staff that Loki had left on Earth from Baron Von Strucker, and since he hadn't seen Sam in a while, Steve had decided to invite him. He needed someone who understood him, to join him, because although he led the Avengers, he couldn't help but feel the others didn't really get him as well as Sam did.

"Sounds like a hell of a fight, sorry I missed it," Sam said as they continued to make their way up.

Steve looked at his apologetically. "If I had known it was going to be a firefight, I absolutely would have called you."

Sam laughed. "No, I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case. Avenging is your world." They stopped and looked out over the railing to the party that spread out below them. "Your world is crazy."

Steve looked around the room below him. There was a bunch of socialites he didn't know or understand, some WW2 vets, Tony's idea, thinking having some men his age around might make him feel comfortable. It didn't. There was Thor, Colonel Rhodes, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner and Maria Hill, who was now working for Tony since the destruction of SHIELD. She basically did the same job she did for Fury, but for the Avengers now. He sighed, taking it all in. "Be it ever so humble."

Sam nodded, taking it all in. "You find a place in Brooklyn yet?" he asked before taking a sip of his drink.

"I don't think I can afford a place in Brooklyn." He had been looking for a small apartment in Brooklyn, but stunningly, Brooklyn was considered prime real estate, with prices through the roof. Even though he had a small fortune available to him, he wasn't keen on some of the prices being thrown at him for what he was looking at getting in return.

"Well, home is home, you know?" Sam replied glancing sideways at Steve with a sympathetic smile. His smile suddenly faltered, and his eyebrows raised as he looked past Steve.

Steve turned around to look at what had attracted his wingman's attention.

"Steve," Sarah greeted, without so much as a smile on her face. She was dressed in a figure-hugging black dress that passed her knees, her black high heels complimenting her legs and making them appear even longer than he remembered. "You called?"

"Hey, Sarah." He looked around the room, hoping that Tony wasn't close by, because he knew he wouldn't hear the end of it if he found out he had an attractive friend such as Sarah. "Glad you could make it."

"Well, it is my monthly report night."

"I think you could probably skip it for tonight," Steve murmured, motioning to the room.

"If you say so, not much to report anyway. No chatter, he's gone dark."

Steve sighed. It had been over three months since their last sighting of Bucky. He thought of all people, Sarah would have been able to find him, but even she was struggling.

"It's okay, man," Sam piped up, putting a hand on Steve's shoulder. "We'll find him."

"Unless he doesn't want to be found, then we won't," Sarah added plainly, looking pointedly at Steve. She had already warned him that Bucky would be hard to find. He was used to hiding, it's how he had survived all these years.

"Yeah okay, well, let's have a drink."

"You can't get drunk," Sarah said, looking at him in surprise. Of course, Sarah knew that, she had sat with him on many a night during WW2.

"No, but that doesn't mean I don't mind having one," he replied pointedly.

"I been meaning to ask you," Sam said, looking to Sarah as they made their way downstairs towards the bar. "Can you?"

"What?"

"Can you get drunk?"

"Blood drunk," she answered bluntly, before winking. Steve couldn't help but notice that Sam seemed to pale slightly, and Steve wasn't quite sure if Sarah was joking or being honest, so he tried not to think about it.

As they approached the bar, Natasha spotted Sarah from behind the bar and raised her eyebrows. Steve led Sarah over to the bar and Natasha smiled. "Heh, I haven't seen you around in a while."

"Cap keeps me busy."

"I bet. Drink?"

"Sure."

Natasha poured her a drink, while topping up Sam and Steve and they began to chat idly. Steve couldn't help but notice how easily Sam and Sarah seemed to get along now, although she could still say things that would cause him to feel uneasy. It was expected.

Suddenly, a head popped around Steve's shoulder and looked at her. "Well, well, well, have you jumped back on the wagon, Cap?"

Steve couldn't help but groan at Tony's jab. "No, Tony."

"Really? Are you Sam's then?" he asked raising his eyebrows at Steve's offsider, before smiling charmingly at Sarah.

It was obvious that Sarah wasn't impressed by Tony's charm, as she stood, drawing herself up to her full height so she towered over Tony. "I belong to no one, Mr Stark."

"Oh… really?"

"Sarah here, is…" Steve suddenly wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't told anyone outside of Fury, Hill, Natasha and Sam about Sarah's true identity.

"One of Sam's co-workers, actually," Sarah quickly interjected, looking pointedly at Sam. "And we should probably be going, we've got work at the VA centre tomorrow morning after all, can't all be billionaires in their towers, can we?"

She skulled her drink, before looping her arm through Sam's and dragging him out with a wave of her hand. Steve couldn't help but smile and shake his head as Tony seemed awestruck by her mere presence and audacity.

"I like her, she'd be good for you," he said, before patting Steve on the shoulder and walking away.

Steve glanced sideways at Natasha, who was also smirking at the introduction. "Don't say it, I couldn't."

"I mean, you guys have life experience in common," Natasha responded, making Steve roll his eyes before walking away.

Sam walked beside Sarah as they exited the tower. "Nice call, got us out of there without too many questions," he commented as they turned and began walking down the street.

"You tend to get good at that, when you need to divert attention a lot, and Tony Stark is simple, very perceptive like his father, but his ego and need for attention is his downfall," Sarah answered.

Sam thought for a moment, considering her words. "It's crazy to think, you knew his father and worked with him too."

"Yeah, well, I can't see myself working for his son any time soon. I thought his father was egotistical, Tony makes his father look a saint in my eyes. That whole Iron Man thing, wow…" Sarah said shaking her head.

Sam chuckled and slowed as he approached his car. "Hey, did you need a lift?" He turned and found Sarah had stopped and was looking back towards the tower, her eyes narrowed. "Sarah?"

She looked back to Sam, her expression appearing conflicted. "Hmm, oh, no, I'll be fine, thank you. I parked over there," she answered pointing to a black GTR parked on the opposite side of the road.

"Is something wrong?" he asked looking up to the tower.

She looked back up herself, pressing her lips into a thin line. "I don't know. I can still hear the party, and all sounds well, but…something seems off. Maybe it's just me though."

Sam raised an eyebrow, he hadn't known Sarah more than a few months, but in that time, he had come to trust her instincts more than anything else. "What is it?"

"Hard to say," she finally shook her head and looked away. "Probably just my old age making me more cynical of everything," she said with a chuckle and a shrug.

Sam frowned, but if she wasn't sure about what she was sensing, then who was he to try and figure out something he couldn't even see or hear. "Hey, since you're looking for our missing person too, if you ever want to team up, then give me a call."

She looked thoughtfully at Sam for a moment, before a small smirk graced her lips. "Look at you, Sam, not afraid of a little monster like me anymore."

He faltered slightly, frowning again. "Sorry?"

The vampire across from him continued to smirk. "It's okay, Sam, I know you're afraid of me. It's good to be afraid, it keeps you ready for anything."

Sam laughed, albeit nervously. "I'm not afraid of you, Sarah."

She looked pointedly back at him, before taking a step towards him. "Every time I take a step close to you," she began, taking another step. "Your heartbeat fluctuates ever so slightly. You can try to lie to yourself, Sam, but you can't lie to me." She stopped in front him, close enough that he could smell her perfume and for the first time, he was mesmerized by her eyes, the brown of them seemed to shine even in the dark of night. That is, until they flashed red, alarming him. "It's okay, you should be afraid of me."

She stepped back, an amused smile on her face, while he remained motionless. "Never let your guard down around me, Sam. I'm a predator, and I'll do my best to keep it under control, but one day, there may come a time when I can't. Be ready." With those final words, she walked away.

* * *

Sarah groaned as she leaned back on her desk chair, rubbing her forehead. The TV in her office showed the decimation in Sokovia, after the city had come under attack from an unknown terrorist organisation. Or at least that's what the news was saying.

She had been trying to call Steve for the last hour, and finally, pulled up Sam's number. He was still in New York, while Sarah had taken a trip to Europe, more or less for a holiday, but under the guise of chasing leads.

She was currently staying at one of her houses in France, if that's what you wanted to call it. It appeared, she was definitely still a princess at heart, if this house was anything to go by. It was a modest five-bedroom house on the outskirts of Lyon. The house was large enough that it required hired help to keep the gardens tidy and presentable and the house itself clean, especially when she was away, but when she was home she usually offered the staff paid leave for the entirety of her stay, which was very rarely long.

She dialed Sam's number, moving to look out the window as she called. He answered straight away. "Are you with Steve?"

"No, I take it you aren't either?" she replied, sighing in resignation. "Have you spoken to him at all since we left that party?"

"No, that was the last time I spoke to him." It had been a week since either of them had spoken to Steve it seemed. In the back of her mind, a little portion of her brain wondered if perhaps this was what that feeling had been when she had left the party with Sam. "Damn it, Steve," Sarah muttered, before standing up and moving to stand in front of the large screen TV. It showed several refugees being processed in an evacuation centre not far from where the city had been. "I'll make a few calls, I know some people," she said, hoping to at least alleviate Sam's concerns, somewhat.

"Hey, wait," Sam objected, making Sarah hold onto the phone. "Have you had any leads on The Asset?"

Sam and Sarah had an agreement to pool any intel. The only thing was, Sarah was feeding false intel. She knew Bucky's general whereabouts, but she kept it to herself. "No, only what I told you last time."

"Alright, let me know as soon as you hear from Steve, and I'll do the same if I find him first."

"You won't."

Sam scoffed slightly and chuckled. "I know."

Sarah smirked and hung up, before redialing into her phone. It rang once before it was answered, although no one said anything. "Fury, where is he?"

"Good evening, Lieutenant, it's good to hear from you," Fury replied, his voice as sardonic as ever after a brief pause. "And to what do I owe the honour of you calling me?"

"Don't start, Fury. Where is he?"

There was another pause, before he answered again. "How did you get this number?"

"Fury, you might like to think you're the top spy in the world, but I've been at this game a hell of a lot longer than you. Now, put him on."

There was the sound of shuffling before someone sighed into the other end. "Sarah…"

"Steven Grant Rogers," she scolded, moving away from the TV as they showed a Helicarrier taking off.

He was quiet for a second. "How…"

"I turn my back for one second!" she exclaimed, cutting him off. She began to pace her office.

"Look, I'm fine, it's taken care of, relax," he tried to calm her. She narrowed her eyes, before slamming a hand against the bricks of her lounge room. They cracked under her fist.

"I swear to god, Steve, you have given me age lines." She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to alleviate the mild headache she was beginning to feel, not something that happened often, if at all. She needed to eat.

She heard him chuckle on the other side, before speaking again. "It's good to hear your voice, Sarah."

"Then next time, call me if you need help!" she retorted, finally flopping down into her desk chair.

"It didn't seem like a good idea to bring you on, considering the company." She was silent, grinding her teeth in an effort not to chew him out more. It was a fair concern for him, had she gone with him they would need to let Banner, Barton, Stark and Thor in on the secret. "Yeah, okay. Look, I'll be back in New York soon, we'll catch up then," he replied, sounding distracted. "I've got to go."

"Alright, please take care."

"I will."

He hung up and Sarah sighed, before she looked back at her phone. She dropped it onto her coffee table and was thoughtful for a moment, before picking up her phone again. She began typing in a phone number, but then thought better of it, putting the phone away and returning to her work.

* * *

Sarah drove down the long road towards the huge facility that Steve had now moved into. He had called it the 'Avengers Mansion' and had even asked her to move in with him, but that was not something she was comfortable with. Tony Stark had turned one of his companies old storage facilities into something of a high-tech training/headquarters for the 'Avengers' after Ultron had infiltrated Stark tower's systems. She wondered if the man was capable of ever doing things by halves as the facility towered over the lush green land around it.

The only 'Avengers' she knew other than Steve was Natasha, and Sam, who had taken up Steve's offer after the departure of Stark, Barton and Banner had left the Avengers understaffed. So, her answer to Steve was an easy no.

She had claimed to want to maintain her search for Bucky, but in reality, she didn't want to get too much closer to anymore people. The less people that knew who she was and what she was capable of, the better.

The only reason she was now entering the Avenger's Mansion was because Steve had asked her to come see him and catch him up to date with what had been happening with her search, and with all the training he was undertaking to get his new Avengers up to speed with their new roles, she decided to visit just this once.

She stopped her car and stepped out, looking up at the building, huffing slightly as she took in the oversized facility. She glanced from side to side, before sniffing the air, trying to find a scent to follow. Instead, she heard the downdraft of an aircraft as it came into land on the landing pad adjacent to the building.

She turned to watch it land, and could catch the scent of explosives, blood and a particular smell that reminded her of Africa as the back of the aircraft opened, several people striding out from the aircraft.

Steve was the last to exit the aircraft, and she could detect the telltale hunch of a depressed Steve. She sighed and made her way over, drawing the attention of a young woman who was looking rather dejected. Sarah ignored her, continuing towards Steve. "Did you want to reschedule?" she asked, drawing his attention to her.

He looked up, confusion tainting his features for a second before a look of recognition drifted across his face. He looked apologetic. "Right, sorry, I asked you to come over, but this mission came up-," he began trying to explain, but Sarah held up a hand to him.

"It's fine, it's not like I actually had any important information anyway, it's just the same as always, cold leads."

If Steve could look even more dejected, Sarah would be very surprised. "Ok, well, why don't you come inside, you can meet the rest of the team."

"Not exactly a good idea, Steve. People meet me, then they ask questions, which get very awkward to answer."

Steve looked at her pointedly. "I think you would be very surprised, these people, their normal is so far different from the average person."

"Yes, I've seen the stories and communications," she answered, causing Steve's eyebrows to raise in surprise. "You forget, spying is my game, Steve. It's my job to know things before anyone else, even you."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "And you'll tell me these things too, won't you?"

She raised an eyebrow, considering the implication in his question. Clearly, he was starting to question whether she was telling him everything she knew. "When they're 100%, of course."

He watched her for a moment, before nodding. "Come on, you should at least say hi to Sam and Natasha." He turned, and she followed him inside.

* * *

**A/N**

**Yes...this first chapter is a little bit 'meh' **

**I was stuck on how to start it off, but I felt like the party scene at Avengers Tower was somewhat important with the conversation between Sam and Steve.**

**As I've said before, if you haven't read 'Silent Heart' or 'Bleeding Heart' in that order, then you really should before reading this one.**

**xo**

**Krayzee**


	2. Gone

**Hi everyone,**

**Taken me a while to get this chapter up, Christmas in retail means not getting much time for hobbies, as well as everyone in our company in my local area seems to be going down sick.**

**But here is the second chapter. Hopefully after Christmas these will come along a little more often. **

**Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.**

**Enjoy**

**xo**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Gone**

Sarah frowned as she watched the news, the discussion of the accords the main topic on all channels. This did not bode well to her. All this had stemmed from the mission Steve and his team had been returning from when Sarah visited. It had gone badly, an explosion tearing through a portion of a building and causing unrest through several governments.

Personally, to Sarah, it just sounded like several disgruntled governments wanted a controlling hand in the Avengers. She had seen this through many centuries, through wars and invention of powerful weapons, and it seemed, this was no different.

She saw her phone ringing, Steve's name in the display. She sighed, picking it up and opening the call. "Steve."

"Have you seen the news?"

"Yeah, that's bad news, Steve," Sarah replied, shaking her head as the Secretary of State addressed the media about the Accords and what they entailed.

"I know."

"Are you signing?"

"Not yet."

"Not yet?" she asked, mildly surprised. Steve was all about righteousness a lot of the time, but she did sometimes wonder if he could be easily swayed by the opinions and beliefs of others.

"There's another thing," he said, his voice breaking slightly. "She's gone."

Sarah froze, hearing the pain in Steve's voice. She knew what he must mean. And she knew that it was going to happen any day now. She had lived a lot longer than most of Sarah's human friends, but even she couldn't fight age forever. "Where are we going?"

"I'll pick you up. We'll take the Quinjet," he replied, before hanging up.

Sarah slowly began packing. She couldn't bring herself to move quickly, that would mean having to say goodbye to her dear friend sooner. At one point, she found herself trying to pack her clothes into her vanity case, she was so distracted by the thought of finally losing her dearest friend.

Steve soon arrived, landing on the roof of Sarah's own large mansion, situated in the rolling hills outside of New York city. She hurried into the back of the Quinjet, where Steve was waiting, his eyes red like he had been crying.

She sighed, dropping her bag onto one of the seats in the back of the Quinjet, before walking up to face Steve. "Hey," she murmured.

"Hey…" he responded quietly, trying to offer her a sympathetic smile, although it came across as more of grimace.

She sighed again, before reaching out for Steve. "Come here." She pulled him into a hug, holding him tightly. Even though she felt like crying herself in that moment, she knew she needed to hang on for Steve. He tried to pull away, but she didn't release him. "It's okay."

Sarah had lived many centuries, she had seen many friends and acquaintances pass on, had never had a chance to say goodbye to her family members, and had even been present at the funerals of Howard Stark and Chester Phillips. It never got easier, but this time, it was definitely harder.

Peggy was like a sister to her, a sister that accepted her for who she was and showed no fear of her. A sister that pushed her to be the best she could, even though destiny had thrown her a curve ball. A sister that had given her the opportunity to work towards preserving what little humanity she had left.

She hugged Steve a little tighter as she thought about Peggy and felt him hug her back tightly too.

* * *

The pair flew to London, where the funeral was held, picking up Sam on the way, for 'moral support' Sarah had said. Steve couldn't argue with that. He couldn't help but notice Sarah and Sam seemed to have gotten closer since they had started working on finding Bucky. It made him a little happy, but at the same time he felt a little disgruntled, and he wasn't sure why.

Inside a cathedral packed with people, Steve sat at the front of the pews with Sam, while Sarah lingered somewhere towards the back, not wanting to attract attention to herself.

At the alter a candle burned next to an image of Peggy wearing her uniform, looking proudly at the camera. He missed that Peggy, the one who would stand her ground, never backed down and always stood for what was right.

He had visited her a few times over the last few years, and gradually her mind had gotten worse, to the point where he struggled to force himself to visit. Sarah had stopped visiting long ago, although she would always stop into the nursing home to leave presents for Peggy. He often saw the boxes lining Peggy's room and recognised Sarah's handwriting.

The priest gave a short sermon, before they prayed. Steve's eyes watered and he looked to the floor as he recalled his favourite moments with Peggy, although they were few and far between, she had left a huge mark on Steve.

"And now, I would like to call upon Sharon Carter to come up and say a few words," the priest announced. Steve still didn't look up, lost in his own thoughts about Peggy. It wasn't until Sam took a sharp breath and nudged Steve he finally looked up.

It was Agent 13, the same woman who had been planted to keep an eye on him by Fury when HYDRA had looked to takeover in DC. Her gaze fell on Steve, but she was quick to look away as she began to speak.

"Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of SHIELD . . . but I just knew her as Aunt Peggy." Steve was gobsmacked, staring at the former SHIELD agent. "She had a photograph in her office. Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid, that was pretty cool. But it was a lot to live up to. Which is why I never told anyone we were related." Sharon took a breath, looking down at the dais before looking back over the gathered mourners. "I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage in a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either. And she said, compromise where you can. But where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move . . . it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say "No, you move."

Steve couldn't help but grin, that was definitely something Peggy would say.

After the service, as everyone else moved to leave, Steve stayed put while Sam went to retrieve their car, looking up at the image of Peggy.

"That was nice," came Sarah's voice from his right, suddenly appearing.

"Yeah, she would have liked it."

"No, she wouldn't. She hated people making a fuss," Sarah scoffed.

"Yeah, well this was the only way we were going to be able to make a fuss over a woman who has done so much for the world," came another feminine voice. Both turned to see Sharon walking towards them.

Sarah gave Steve a sidelong glance, and Steve immediately picked up on her concern. They didn't know what Peggy had told Sharon, whether or not she had told her niece the truth or had left gaps where necessary.

"So, you're Peggy's niece?" Steve asked, trying to draw Sharon's attention away from Sarah.

"Yeah," Sharon answered, offering an apologetic smile.

"Sorry for your loss," Sarah said, nodding towards the blonde. She sounded casual, and Steve noticed she acted naturally, as if this conversation was just a common day occurrence for her and Sharon was just any other person.

"You too, I know you were close to my aunt, Sarah," Sharon replied in such a casual manner that both Steve and Sarah froze. "Aunt Peggy used to talk about you, a lot."

"A lot…?" Sarah asked slowly, raising an eyebrow and glancing sideways at Steve.

"She said you were special, like Steve, but wouldn't elaborate. I always wondered what happened to you, you look like you haven't aged a day," Sharon said. She looked back over her shoulder as someone opened the rear doors and called her name. "I've got to go, but I would love to talk again soon, if we could."

"We'll wait for you, if you like," Steve replied, glancing past Sharon to see Natasha making her way towards them.

"Okay, thanks," Sharon turned and hurried towards the door, stopping briefly to accept a hug from Natasha.

Sarah rested a hand on Steve's shoulder as Natasha approached. Steve had told her everything regarding the proposed Accords and what his opinion on them was, as well as some of the other members' opinions, including Natasha's. Strangely, Sarah hadn't offered her own opinion to him about where she stood on them.

Natasha drew level with them as Steve turned back to look at Peggy's photo again. They were quiet for a few moments.

"When I came out of the ice, I thought everyone I had known was gone," Steve began explaining to no one in particular. "Then I found out that she was alive. I was just lucky to have her."

"Sorry," Sarah murmured, sounding apologetic. He realized she must have felt bad for not coming to find him sooner, but he held no ill will towards her for that. She had a job to do too, finding him could have exposed her sooner than necessary, and they may have never been able to take down HYDRA if she had revealed herself sooner.

"She had you back, too," Natasha replied, also looking to the image of Peggy. They were all quiet for a moment as they looked at her photo.

"Who else signed?" Steve asked in resignation, feeling the tension amongst them heighten.

"Tony. Rhodey. Vision."

Steve sighed and looked to the floor, as Sarah shifted, folding her arms across her chest and moving so she was now looking at Natasha. "Clint?"

"Says he's retired." She gave the slightest of smirks, as did Steve.

"Wanda?"

"TBD." She sighed, before looking back at Steve with an anxious expression on her face. "Sarah?"

"I don't exist," she answered flatly, one eyebrow raising ever so slightly. Clearly, she was surprised that Natasha even asked her.

Natasha sighed again. "I'm off to Vienna for the signing of the Accords. There's plenty of room on the jet."

Steve bowed his head and looked to the floor, feeling the disappointment growing inside of him. If the day could get even darker, he would be very surprised.

"Just because it's the path of least resistance doesn't mean it's the wrong path. Staying together is more important than how we stay together," Natasha tried to reason. He couldn't help but notice it didn't sound like she was just trying to convince them, but maybe even herself.

"What are we giving up to do it?" Steve asked, looking at her expectantly. Natasha sighed in resignation as Steve continued. "I'm sorry, Nat. I can't sign it."

"I know."

"Then what are you doing here?" he asked, looking at her puzzled.

"I didn't want you to be alone." Nat offered a sympathetic smile.

"Or, YOU didn't want to be alone?" Sarah asked, looking at the red head pointedly.

Natasha narrowed her eyes at Sarah, before shrugging and reaching out to Steve, pulling him in for a hug. "Come here."

He accepted the hug, patting her on the back, glancing sideways at Sarah, who simply smiled back at him before turning and walking towards the doors.

* * *

Sarah and Steve walked alongside Sharon as they walked her to her hotel, listening to her talk about her Aunt Peggy, their old friend.

"My mom tried to talk me out of enlisting, but, um, not Aunt Peggy. She bought me my first thigh holster."

Steve smiled wryly. "Very practical."

Sharon looked to Sarah. "And stylish." They both shared a smile, Sarah recalling going shopping with Peggy on a number of occasions and noting that Peggy didn't just look for practical, but always wanted the 'prettiest' holsters, harnesses and handbags.

They stopped by an elevator, Sharon pressing the button and stepping back to wait. Steve looked around the hotel foyer awkwardly. "CIA has you stationed over here now?" he asked.

Sarah raised an eyebrow, noting Steve's heart rate was spiking slightly and his body temperature had risen a smidgen. He was nervous.

"In Berlin, Joint Terrorism Task Force," Sharon answered, nonplussed.

"Right. Right. Sounds fun." Steve put his hands in his pockets, trying to seem relaxed but looking anything but and making Sarah frown. How could this man be so bad at this?

"I know, right?"

Sarah couldn't handle Steve's awkwardness anymore. "I'm going to go over there and make a phone call," she said, pulling her phone from her pocket, motioning towards a TV that was in the hotel foyer. It seemed they barely even registered her words, smiling awkwardly at each other.

Sam was already seated in the lounge area, watching the same TV and nodded at Sarah. When she was sure she was out of the ear shot, she groaned. "Good lord, no wonder Peggy was left out to dry, Steve."

"That bad, huh?" Sam asked. Sarah rolled her eyes in response, eliciting a chuckle from Sam.

She stood in front of the TV, with her phone in hand, watching as the Accords were being reported on by the news channel, while still listening to the pair talking at the elevators.

"I've been meaning to ask you. When you were spying on me from across the hall-,"

"You mean when I was doing my job?" Sharon interjected pointedly.

Steve gave a quiet laugh, before continuing. "Did Peggy know?"

Sharon paused for a moment, sighing in resignation. "She kept so many secrets. I didn't want her to have one from you."

Sarah began focusing on the TV as suddenly there was a commotion, two police officers and a sniffer dog began running from a van parked in the street out the front of the UN building. The commotion was followed by an explosion and Sarah stepped back in shock, dropping her phone. The elevator dinged as the camera filming lost its connections. "Thanks for walking me back."

Sarah turned and hurried towards Steve and Sharon, careful to keep her speed in check with Sam close on her heels "Sure," Steve replied, before looking towards Sarah and Sam. His expression quickly turned to one of concern.

"Steve. There's something you gotta see," Sam called before Sharon could step onto the elevator. Sarah nodded, motioning towards the TV. The pair followed them over and they continued to watch as the news report jumped from situation to situation at the Accords.

"_A bomb hidden in a news van…"_

Sharon quickly got onto her phone, making a phone call as she began to pace. "Who's coordinating?"

"…_ripped through the UN building in Vienna."_

"Good. They're solid. Forensics?"

Steve, Sam and Sarah watched on in silence as the news report continued. _"More than 70 people have been injured. At least 12 are dead, including Wakanda's King T'Chaka. Officials have released a video of a suspect who they have identified as James Buchanan Barnes, the Winter Soldier. The infamous HYDRA agent, linked to numerous acts of terrorism and political assassinations."_

All four froze, watching as a blurry image that vaguely resembled Bucky appeared on the TV screen.

"That's not him," Sarah was the first to speak, frowning as she cocked her head to one side, looking at the image carefully.

"You can tell from that?" Sam asked doubtfully.

"I've known him a lot longer than you have," she answered without taking her eyes off the screen as she moved her head to another angle to look at the image. "Body size isn't the right proportion."

"He could have lost weight," Sam countered, making Sarah look at him in annoyance.

Sharon finally got off the phone. "I have to go to work." She waved before hurrying from the hotel.

The trio glanced from the TV to one another, before nodding and leaving the hotel for their own.

* * *

Sarah raised her eyebrows as her phone pinged. While she had given him the beacon, she never actually thought he would use it.

She had snuck out of London while Sam and Steve were still prepping their gear, taking some of her own assets out of storage to make her way to Bucharest. She knew that's where he had settled into hiding, she just didn't know exactly where, until now.

She had disposed of her phone, to try and slow Steve and Sam down, but she knew they were smart, they would figure out a way to either track her or get the information on his whereabouts some other way.

Sarah landed her jet at the private airfield just outside Bucharest, paying the caretaker handsomely for his silence, before changing into her armour and loading herself up with enough gadgets and weaponry, just in case. Although her senses and knowledge of Barnes told her it wasn't him, it was better to be safe than sorry. And there was always the off chance that someone would beat her to him, in which case she needed to free him and get him out of there safely.

She took the motorcycle out of the cargo bay of the jet, pulling the black helmet over her head and tucking her hair back to keep it out of her face. She started the bike, placing her GPS with the active ping into the holder on the handlebars, before revving the engine and speeding out of the airfield.

The ping led her to a dingy looking part of town, and she slowed her bike to analyse the ping. He was close. She stopped and dismounted the bike, removing the helmet and her gloves before activating the device on her wrist that she used to analyse radio chatter and transferring the GPS app to it, beginning to follow the ping into a side alley between two large apartment buildings.

She walked, looking ahead of her in the alley, and listening carefully for any sign of human life in the alley. A scent, or a heartbeat.

As she passed by a dark alcove, she caught the sound of a heartbeat racing and turned quickly, just in time to catch a metal fist that came towards her. She blocked it, holding it at bay as he tried to strike at her again with his spare hand. She wrestled to hold both arms, looking up into his face for the first time.

He froze as he stared back at her. "Sarah?"

"Sergeant Barnes, you know it's against regulations to strike your superior?"

He bit his lip, before pulling his hands from her grasp. "You came."

"Of course I did, you hit the beacon."

He continued to stare at her for a moment, before slowly moving his mouth to answer. "I-I didn't know what else to do," he responded quietly, looking down at the ground.

She was quiet for a moment, looking him over. He was dressed in a well-worn, brown leather jacket hoodie, with several shirts on underneath, a pair of blue denim, and a black baseball cap on his head, positioned low, no doubt to cover his eyes. He didn't appear injured, or unhealthy, which she found a relief as she listened to his heartbeat and his breathing. "Everyone is looking for you, to bring you in."

"It wasn't me," he objected glaring at her.

She raised her hands in front of her. "I never said it was." He was silent for a moment, looking slightly bewildered at her response, before turning to walk away. "Where are you going?" she asked, frowning.

"To get my things, I need to get out of here."

"I wouldn't advise that, my best guess is they've already discovered where you live. We should move, now," she replied, beginning to follow him.

"I can't leave any trace I was here." She raised her eyebrows. That was actually a good point, clearly his Winter Soldier training was still routine for him, even if the control wasn't active anymore.

"It's too late, we need to get you out of here," she replied, quickly moving to match his step. "Steve was right behind me leaving London, it wouldn't surprise me if he's found your apartment by now and is waiting. And then there's whoever tried to frame you."

"I think they succeeded pretty well with that," Bucky retorted, stopping at the corner of the alley and peering around the corner. He glanced back at Sarah, looking her up and down. She frowned, slightly perturbed at his behaviour. "Haven't you got anything less conspicuous you could have worn?"

She raised her eyebrows in surprise and smirked slightly. She was so used to 1945 Bucky, and his flirtatious manner, for a second she had forgotten that this wasn't quite the same man she was used to, so quick to jump to the worst assumption of him. It was almost nice, this new Bucky. Almost.

"Sorry, I left my homeless veteran kit at home," she sniped back at him, earning another glare.

His glare soon changed to one of confusion and he leaned back against the wall. "What did you do to me?"

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, she certainly wasn't expecting that question right now. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. On the Helicarrier, you…did something, what was it?" he demanded, stepping closer to her. She stepped back, feeling the waves of frustration flowing from Bucky as his heart rate picked up.

"Calm down, I told you before when I gave you the beacon, I unlocked the memories that HYDRA had locked away." She put a hand on his chest, pushing him back gently, his eyes dropped to look at her ungloved hand on his chest. "Unfortunately, I had to unlock all of them to get the ones I needed."

He looked back up at her face, staring into her eyes. She began to feel slightly self-conscious, wondering if this was how others felt when she probed them and read their vitals to gauge their feelings. "But I see other memories, of people I don't know, in a country I've never been to before." She furrowed her brow, looking at him in confusion. He raised his eyebrows after a moment, before looking at her seriously again. "Fine, if you really want to help me, stay close. I need to clear out my apartment of some sensitive material, then we can go." He motioned to the rooftops, indicating he wanted her to stay out of sight. She nodded, stepping back into the shadows and misting out of sight.

* * *

**xo**

**Krayzee**


	3. Erwähne es nicht

**Hello! Happy New Year!**

**So I saw a meme on FB today, about how Australia is on fire (it is, it's no joke, a good chunk of the south east of Australia is ablaze) and about WW3 and I thought, ooohhh should update a chapter.**

**Weird...right?**

**So here it is, and in case anyone was wondering, there are no fires where we are at the moment. I live in the North of Australia, which is not apart of the fire disaster currently hitting our country. I am keeping a close eye on it because i have friends and family down there though.**

**So, enjoy today's chapter, and hopefully I will have another up in a week or two.**

**Enjoy**

**xo**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Erwähne es nicht**

Steve stepped into the dark apartment, glancing around the room. This was how Bucky was living now, in the dingiest part of Bucharest, in an apartment that could barely be classed as a room. The whole apartment was only about half the size of his bedroom back in New York.

Following the CIA intel from Sharon, Sam and Steve had made their way to Bucharest, but not until it occurred to them that Sarah had flown the coop on them. He and Sam had both tried to call her, and even went so far as to force their way into her hotel room, only to find no trace of her.

Steve had always had an inkling that Sarah wasn't telling him something, keeping some information from him, and this was proof enough. She had been leading he and Sam astray. She had known where Bucky was this whole time but had been purposely feeding them poor intel. Betrayed by his Lieutenant, yet again.

He strode into the kitchen of the apartment, looking around. He noticed a small pile of books on top of the fridge, reaching up to take one and opening it, reading what was written.

_I keep remembering that woman's face. I know her. She helped me escape, but I have these memories, like this isn't the first time. Sarah is her name. She is friends with Captain America. I know her._

Steve frowned, pressing his lips into a thin line. These books must have been Bucky's journals. He read on.

_Captain America. I know him too, not just from my orders, I know him, and he knows me. He and the woman. Why do I know them?_

"Heads up, Cap. German Special Forces, approaching from the south," Sam murmured through their comms link.

"Understood." He heard the sound of a floorboard creak behind him and turned slowly, seeing Bucky standing there. Bucky stared at him, his eyes revealing his anxiousness as he watched Steve carefully. "Do you know me?"

He hesitated for a moment. "You're Steve. I read about you in a museum."

"They've set the perimeter," Sam announced through the comms.

Steve carefully put the notebook down, not taking his eyes off Bucky. "I know you're nervous. And you have plenty of reason to be. But you're lying."

Bucky looked away and closed his eyes for a moment, opening them again and looking straight back at Steve resolutely. "I wasn't in Vienna. I don't do that anymore."

"They're entering the building," Sam announced urgently.

"Well, the people who think you did are coming here now. And they're not planning on taking you alive," Steve explained.

Bucky smirked slightly, his answer dripping with self-deprecation. "That's smart. Good strategy."

"They're on the roof. I'm compromised," Sam said, sounding breathless.

There was the sound of boots hurrying upstairs further below in the apartment building, and suddenly, Sarah appeared behind Bucky.

"We've got company."

Steve glared at her. "Sarah…"

She raised her eyebrows in response but seemed neither surprised to see him, nor bothered to see him. Bucky on the other hand, jumped at her appearance and stepped away from her. She ignored his reaction, shutting the door behind her.

The three of them looked from one to the other. Sarah turned her head slightly as more boots were heard just outside the front door. Steve thought better than to address her right now. "This doesn't have end in a fight, Buck."

Bucky looked from Steve, to the back door, where they could see more silhouettes of the incoming police force. "It always ends in a fight."

"5 seconds," Sam warned.

Steve glanced at Sarah, who shrugged, reaching down and putting her hand on her thigh holster, angling her body so she faced the door but could still reach Bucky, ready to take action if needed. He had plenty of questions for her, but now was not the time. "You pulled me from the river. Why?"

Bucky glanced from Steve, to Sarah. Steve couldn't help but notice she pursed her lips at the look Bucky gave her, but didn't say anything. Bucky took the glove off his metal hand before he looked back to Steve. "I don't know."

"3 seconds!"

Steve looked at Bucky imploringly. "Yes, you do."

* * *

"Breach! Breach! Breach!" Sam shouted through the comms, seconds before a flashbang came crashing through the window, Steve quickly batting it away with his shield. Another window smashed as a frag grenade was thrown through another window, Bucky the first to react to it, kicking it to Steve, who smothered it with his shield.

Outside the front door, they heard German voices.

"They're going to try shooting down the door," Sarah, interpreted, moving to the other side of the room in a single step. Pulling her handgun from her thigh holster and dropping to a knee, her aim trained on the door. As she did, Bucky picked up his mattress from his bed, holding it up as a shot gun was fired through the window at him.

"No fatalities, Jones!" Steve shouted at her, causing her to grimace, but she fired a shot at the bottom of the door, hearing a pained cry seconds later.

"Like making things hard, don't you?"

Bucky took the moment of confusion after the shot was fired to fling a table at the door with great strength, lodging it into the door frame so it couldn't be moved easily.

Sarah turned as two police officers smashed through the windows on cables, quickly jumping up and kicking both back out the window, knocking down several other police officers in the process.

Steve knelt down as several more police officers made their way into the apartment through the back door, grabbing the rug by the door and pulling it out from under their feet, sending them flying backwards into their comrades, while Bucky grabbed another that had managed to slip inside through the broken window, slamming him into a wall. Steve caught the rifle of a police officer as he tried to charge through the door, raising the barrel into the air, while Bucky charged forwards, kicking him in the chest with such force he was thrown out the door and came to rest at the top of the stairs.

"Buck!" Steve shouted, grabbing Bucky by his hoodie as he tried to slip out the back door past Steve. "You're going to kill somebody." Sarah collected herself from the ground where she had fallen while trying to kick the two officers out, aiming at the door as the police continued to try and batter it with the ram. She turned her head slightly to watch the confrontation.

Bucky quickly reacted to Steve grabbing him by using his metal arm to push him to the ground, Sarah was quick to her feet, turning to watch them. He raised his fist, and Steve raised his shield to protect himself as Bucky slammed his metal fist down.

There was the sound of breaking wood, as his fist slammed into the floorboards. "I'm not going to kill anyone." He pulled out a bag, turning and throwing it out the door before looking to Sarah.

Sarah met Bucky's gaze, just as the police finally managed to break through the door. They opened fire, Bucky moving his metal arm to take the shots, before Steve could move forward and cover him with his shield.

She reacted quickly, jumping forward and putting her hand on the barrel of the rifle, reefing it forward from the officer's hand and bringing her elbow up to connect with his face. The officer was dazed, stepping backwards and blocking the way for his colleagues, and Sarah used the opportunity to kick out, knocking him backwards and into the waiting line of police officers, causing a domino effect.

She turned to look at the two super soldiers, as more police approached them from behind and Steve went to cover them with the shield again, but Bucky shoved Steve forwards, knocking him into the oncoming police officers.

Bucky turned, as yet more soldiers approached through the front door, raising his metal hand to block the shots they fired at him, before punching into them with his metal arm, knocking them out of the apartment with ease. He reached out, grabbing Sarah and pulling her from the room.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, pulling her hand back from his metal hand as they were attacked again after exiting the apartment. "We aren't that cosy." She kicked out at a police officer who got to close, sending him falling down the stairs, taking out his colleagues like a bowling ball.

A police officer dropped in through the skyline on a repel line, and Bucky leapt across, catching him and using him to drop a few floors down. Sarah peered over the side of the balustrade, to see Bucky looking back up at her. She clicked her tongue in annoyance as Steve came careening out of the apartment.

"Sarah, where is he?"

"Down there," she replied motioning with her chin.

"We need to stop him," he urged. "Before either he gets killed, or someone kills him."

"You don't say?" Sarah replied sarcastically, as Steve made to run down the stairs. She leapt over the balustrade, grabbing onto the repel line and sliding down to the same level as Bucky as he threw a police officer over the side. She caught him by his body armour, reefing him back onto the landing.

"_Danke Schön!" _the officer exclaimed as she dropped him onto the landing, looking gratefully at her.

"_Erwähne es nicht,"_ she replied easily, before punching the officer in the head and knocking him out. "_Entschuldigung."_

She was quickly back to running down the stairs after Bucky, as Steve leapt the few stories down as Bucky went to throw another officer over the side of the balustrade. He caught him mid-air, holding him, before he looked over at Bucky wearily on the opposite landing. "Come on, man."

Bucky didn't respond, turning and running down a few more flights of stairs, knocking down more officers as he ran.

Sarah flipped over an officer, before jumping down to land in front of Bucky. "Wait! Don't make this harder than it has to be Bucky, you're doing more damage than good," she urged, pulling her handgun from its holster again and firing at a fire hose reel, causing the pump to burst and spray the officers close by and making them slip on the stairs as they tried to hurry up towards them.

He furrowed his brow as he looked at her, meeting her gaze with his own stormy blue eyes, but before she could stop him, he turned and ran for the railing, jumping over the edge of the staircase and plummeting several stories down.

"Damn it, Sergeant!" she growled, misting on the spot and following him as everything around her slowed right down. She formed her mist around him, concentrating hard and clinging to his body and causing him to mist too. She threw them both onto the nearest landing, reforming in a tangled pile of limbs on the landing several floors down. "Would you just stop and listen!"

"What did you just do to me?" Bucky demanded, looking alarmed as they worked to untangle themselves, Sarah shifting so she was on top of him in an effort to pull herself up.

"You forced me to shadow shift! Now, stop!"

He forced her off of him, standing up and glaring at her. "I can't, I can't put anyone else in danger from me!" he retorted.

"We can protect you!"

"Who is going to protect you?"

She frowned at him, standing up herself. "You've seen me at my worst! I need protection from myself, not from you!"

His eyes softened slightly, and he looked away. "I'm sorry." He turned and ran again, this time jumping from the balcony of the apartment building. She walked to the railing and watched as he landed roughly, rolling several times before staggering back onto his feet. He grabbed his previously discarded backpack and began running.

"Bucky!" she exclaimed as Steve came charging up behind her. "Damn it, Steve. We've got to go after him."

"If you'd brought him in when I told you-"

"Finish that sentence, I dare you!" she hissed, feeling her teeth beginning to descend ever so slightly. When Steve's eyes went wide, she knew she must have flashed red eyes, and was quick to bring it under control again. She turned and watched as Bucky began running, spotting a black clad figure running after him on all fours. "We've got a mystery hostile in pursuit too!" she exclaimed, immediately shadow shifting and disappearing from the balcony.

* * *

Steve clenched his jaw, annoyed at how Sarah seemed to just be operating outside of orders now, paying no mind to him, but was quick to focus on the task at hand. He looked back down to the adjacent building and saw Sarah's body reform through the black mist and charge at the mystery hostile that was attacking Bucky. He glanced up to his right as he caught sight of a flying figure in the corner of his eye.

It was Sam.

"Sam, south-west rooftop," Steve called through comms as he stepped back for a run up at the balcony railing.

"Who the hell's the other guy?" Sam asked, sounding confused as he altered his direction.

"About to find out."

Bucky and the hostile traded blows, before the hostile managed throw Bucky onto his back. Bucky grabbed a nearby steel bar, using it to block the hostile's hands which appeared to feature steel claws at the fingers. From what Steve could see from his position, was that the hostile appeared to be dressed like a cat of some sort. Sarah sprinted towards the pair, leaping over air-conditioning units in an effort to get to Bucky.

Steve took his run up and leapt from the balcony down onto the neighboring building as a helicopter appeared above them.

The hostile lunged at Bucky with his claws, slicing through the steel bar before reaching down to try and grab Bucky about the throat, but Bucky grabbed his wrists as Sarah moved forward and aimed a kick at the hostile's mid-section. The hostile managed to maneuver his elbow to block the attack before kicking back at Sarah, causing her to leap back in an effort to avoid it. Steve began to sprint across the rooftop, trying to reach his friends before it was too late.

While the trio wrestled to gain control, a soldier fired a machine gun from the chopper. Steve watched in awe as the bullets harmlessly bounced off the hostile's black armoured bodysuit, as if they were nothing but tiny pebbles. He heard Sarah gasp as a bullet ricocheted off the armour and hit her.

"Sam." Steve called as he ran towards the group.

"Got him." Sam flew back up into the sky, headed for the helicopter, lifting both feet and kicking out at the tail of the helicopter. He shoved the chopper off course, causing the helicopter to begin to spin out of control and the pilot fought to regain control.

Sarah took another swing at the hostile attacking Bucky, and the strike towards his elbow was enough to give Bucky the opportunity to break free from his attacker. Sarah continued attacking, aiming a knee at his head, but he was quick to roll away while she turned to face him down. Behind her, Bucky clambered to his feet, grabbing his bag and slinging it on his back, before running and jumping over the edge of the roof, landing down a level.

"Damn it, Bucky!" Sarah hissed, glancing over her shoulder. Steve met her gaze as she looked over at him. He nodded once, before turning and taking after Bucky. Unfortunately, the hostile had the same idea, leaping over Sarah and giving chase. The hostile was faster than Steve, and hurried after Bucky, also leaping over the edge.

Steve followed the pair, as they landed at street level, Steve landing and rolling along the ground, before getting back onto his feet and running after the pair. He heard the sound of the helicopter behind him again, as they ran through the streets. Gunfire from the chopper tore up the sidewalk as they ran.

He saw Bucky jump down through an opening, quickly followed by the black-clad hostile and he was quick to follow, landing in an underpass. Tyres screeched as vehicles did their best to avoid hitting him. He was about to start running when someone else jumped down beside him.

"This is getting out of hand," Sarah said, straightening.

"No time to chat," he said, turning and running through the traffic. Sarah caught up to him, keeping pace easily. He saw her turn her head slightly.

"We've got company."

He glanced over his shoulder, spotting several vehicles sporting flashing blue and red lights.

"_Stand down! Stand down!" _the driver shouted through the PA system in the vehicle.

"Keep going," Steve shouted to Sarah, who didn't acknowledge his order, but sped looked back over his shoulder and moved himself into a better position, before jumping up, aiming for the front of the vehicle. He landed on the windscreen with his shield taking a majority of the collision, but he splintered the windshield, causing the driver to stop quickly.

Steve rolled off the top of the vehicle, clenching his teeth as he did so. That hurt a little bit, if he was completely honest. Sarah would probably make a comment later, about how he liked to do things the hard way. He hurried to the driver's side door, yanking it open and pulling the driver out, before kicking out the now shattered windscreen before driving away.

* * *

Sarah continued sprinting after Bucky and the hostile. The scent of the hostile was very familiar. The metallic scent of his armour was so familiar, it was like she was around it nearly every day.

She was gaining on the hostile, he really wasn't that fast, even if he was dressed like a cat. Up ahead of him, she could see Bucky was streaking ahead, and was running so fast he was running over the top of cars that were actually going slower than him.

As she continued to sprint after Bucky, she heard the familiar sound of the vehicle that had been pursuing them earlier and glanced back. It was no surprise to see Steve at the wheel.

She ran off to one side, giving him room so that he could pull up beside her.

"Need a lift?" he shouted through the open window.

"Only if you're offering." She jumped up, grabbing onto the door frame and landing onto the side-step of the vehicle. Steve sped up, continuing to try and catch up to Bucky before the hostile did.

As they sped through the tunnel, they lost sight of the hostile when they sped past. There was a thump and the car seemed to lurch slightly. Sarah pushed herself up, looking over the car expectantly. Sure enough, the hostile had managed to jump aboard too.

"Uh, Steve…"

"Yeah, I see him!" Steve began driving erratically, swerving left and right in an effort to lose their extra baggage. The hostile, however, was not letting go, and Sarah noted he seemed to have dug his claws into the metal of the car.

Sarah frowned. "I got this." She misted, reappearing on the roof of the vehicle in front of the hostile. "Sorry, this ride is already taken!" Sarah kicked out at him, but he was able to block her while still maintaining his grip on the vehicle. She aimed another kick at his head, with a lot more force this time, getting down on one knee in an effort to fully extend her leg its full length while doing so.

The hostile grabbed her ankle, before trying to pull her from the vehicle. She hissed, exposing her teeth and grabbing at the hostile. He didn't seem shaken by her display, continuing to try and pull her from the vehicle.

In her anger, she reached down for his hand that held her, grabbing him roughly and pulling him onto the roof of the vehicle. She hissed again as he straightened and looked back at her. They began to trade blows, Sarah easily avoiding the hostile's attacks, while landing several of her own.

She didn't notice Steve had gained ground to Bucky, nor did she notice Sam was now pursuing their vehicle too.

The hostile managed to unbalance Sarah as she tried to kick out at him, causing her to fall backwards onto the car. He took advantage, turning and leaping from the 4x4 at Bucky, who was riding a motorcycle just ahead of their vehicle, while Sarah slid off the roof of the vehicle.

Sam managed to catch her arm, just before she made contact with the ground. "Gotcha!"

"Thanks Sam," she said, slightly breathless as Sam continued to fly after Bucky and Steve.

To their surprise, the hostile soon leapt up, catching hold of Sam by the leg as they flew by.

"Hey!" Sam shouted, and began trying to kick the hostile off. Sarah misted, reforming around the hostile and began to try and subdue him in a chokehold. The hostile, however, began to climb up onto Sam's back, while he continued to try and fly after Steve and Bucky.

Neither was paying much attention to what was going on ahead, their focus on the hostile currently impeding their progress. It wasn't until there was an explosion ahead that their attention was diverted.

Sam was quick to come to a halt, the sudden deceleration causing the hostile to be thrown forwards, with Sarah still on his back. He aimed for Bucky as he continued on the motorcycle, his claws extended, but Sarah managed to grab one of his arms and pull back. The hostile still managed to catch the wheel of Bucky's motorcycle. Bucky was thrown off balance and all three were sent sprawling along the road.

Sarah, who was now only holding on by one arm around the hostile's neck, was thrown from his back as they rolled along the ground. She felt an arm break, screaming at the sudden pain and skidding along the ground.

She managed to roll onto her side, to see Bucky had faltered, looking back at her, as the hostile clambered back to his feet.

"No!" she shouted, misting instantly as she heard a car crashing behind her. She hurried to Bucky, reforming around him, before shifting again. What she did next, she had never done before.

She had spoken to other vampires about it, and had heard about it, but she herself had never done it. The science in it, was pretty straight forward, but it took a lot of effort because in a matter of speaking, it meant having to cast her powers outside of her body for long enough to make it work.

She threw Bucky away from her, while still in mist form, so they were now two separate mist clouds. He travelled a short distance away, before reforming on the ground, a little worse for wear but still altogether and unharmed. The hostile landed on top of her as she reformed, his foot landing on her broken arm and making her scream again.

He was suddenly tackled from behind, Steve's body slamming into him and forcing him away from both Sarah and Bucky. Steve looked from Bucky to Sarah, a slightly puzzled look on his face, while Sarah laid back on the ground. "Don't ask."

The sound of sirens increased, as several vehicles sped towards them under lights and sirens. They screeched to a stop, surrounding them. Steve continued to glare at the hostile as he stood protectively in front of Sarah and Bucky, as Sam landed behind Steve and leant down to check on Sarah.

"You okay?" Sam asked, before looking down at her arm. "Oh…"

"I'm going to go with no?" she asked, wincing slightly as she moved her arm. She glanced at her hand and noted it did not seem to be in the right position. "Ah…" It was facing the wrong way.

"Sarah?" Bucky asked, looking at her in concern and making to move. She glanced towards him, raising an eyebrow. "Are-"

The hostile extended his claws again at the sight of Bucky moving, causing Steve to hold a hand up to Bucky to get him to stop. "Wait." Steve put his shield onto his back.

Before he could continue, armed police surrounded them, their rifles aimed at them all, while War Machine landed in between Steve and the hostile, his weapon system training its multiple guns on all of them.

"Stand down, now," he ordered, as Bucky moved to stand beside Steve and close to Sarah. "Congratulations, Cap, you're a criminal."

Police moved in quickly, forcing Bucky to his knees and then onto the ground. Another officer moved forward and handcuffed Steve's wrists together.

"Do they really think that will hold him?" he heard Sarah sneer under her breath.

He glanced back and saw the strange angle her arm was at and looked back to War Machine. "My Lieutenant needs medical attention."

"Uh…no she does not!" she exclaimed immediately, pushing Sam away and getting to her feet. The police all around them reacted quickly, one looking to hit her from behind, only for her to knock away the rifle and kick at his knee, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Sarah! Stop!" Steve ordered, causing her to freeze.

She pressed her lips together and sat back on the ground, looking meaningfully at the police who now crept carefully towards her with their weapons trained on her. She reached across with her good arm and felt around her broken arm, before a small grin spread across her lips.

She suddenly twisted her arm and there was a sickening crack, before she twisted it again and pulled. She sighed and offered him a small smile. "Give it a minute and it will be fine."

The police officers all looked from one another before looking back to War Machine.

"That's not right…" he murmured, disengaging his helmet to look at her, revealing Colonel James Rhodes, or Rhodey as Tony called him.

Steve finally looked back at the hostile who had attacked Bucky expectantly as police moved towards him. He reached up, causing the police to train their weapons on him, but he sheathed his metallic claws, before reaching for his helmet, pulling it from his head.

Steve's eyes went wide as he saw the man under the helmet.

One of the German police officers looked to Rhodey expectantly. _"Wie lautet der Befehl?"_

Rhodey also looked mildly surprised as he recognized the man before him. "Your highness."

"Oh, shit…" Sarah muttered under her breath.

* * *

**xo**

**Krayzee**


	4. Project Enlighten

**Hi guys,**

**Sorry this one took awhile, haven't been feeling all that great lately so it took a lot of talking myself into the mood to write some more lately.**

**I do think my mood shows in the next couple of chapters, but hopefully they aren't too bad.**

**Enjoy**

**xo**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Project Enlighten**

Sarah was restrained with cuffs and placed inside an armoured van. She sighed and rolled her eyes as the door was slid shut behind her, finding a seat as the guard at the front of the van watched her silently.

She felt heat prickling in her arm, recognizing the feeling as the bone was starting to heal. It would start getting painful again soon, as it began to remold itself into the correct form and position.

She was separated from Steve and Sam by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, Colonel Rhodes declaring she was an unknown enhanced person and therefore, under the new Accords, she was cast as a danger and would need to be assessed and registered.

She may have earnt herself a reproachful look from Steve when she tried to argue that, technically, they hadn't finalised the Accords due to the attack, allegedly at the hands of Sergeant Barnes.

She sat quietly, enduring the pain as it began to increase throughout her arm. It's current position wasn't helping at all. Colonel Rhodes had promised she would receive medical treatment at the Joint Task Force headquarters after Steve's request, both of them ignoring her remarks about it being unnecessary.

They had been driving for about half an hour, zipping through the streets of Berlin after being transported by air from Bucharest. She began to fidget, trying to find a comfortable position, realizing she would really need to readjust herself for it to heal properly. Her movement drew the attention of the officer guarding her.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he demanded, standing up and moving towards her.

"Just getting comfortable," she replied honestly, twisting her left wrist slightly and wriggling her hand. "It's hard for bones to heal correctly if you don't maintain the correct position of the broken bone."

"What?" he asked, looking confused.

"Well, when you break a bone, they put it in a cast, right?" she continued as she shifted again. "To make sure it's kept in the correct position for the bone to heal properly, or if it's that serious they'll hold the bone together with metal rods, correct?"

The officer stared at her, whether it was because he was stunned at how calm she was throughout the whole ordeal, or whether it was because she was randomly conversing with him in the methods of healing bone, she wasn't sure.

She felt the van come to a stop and the officer looked towards the front of the van. "Don't move," he warned, looking back at her as she tried to get comfortable again.

"Sure." She continued to fidget, regardless of the officer's orders as he moved to the front to check what was happening.

He returned to her as the back doors of the van were opened. He moved to help her stand.

"Thanks, but I'm fine," she said standing up, before holding up the handcuffs that had once been on her wrists. "These are yours though." She dropped them into his outstretched hand leaving him with a stunned expression on his face, before turning and making her way out of the van.

Steve and Sam were waiting outside, Sam doing his best not to laugh, while Steve gave her yet another reproachful look as she began to swing around her injured arm to stretch it now that the bone was healed..

"What? He's not hurt, and I had to heal properly. I couldn't do it with those bloody things on," she said shrugging as armed guards moved towards her. The Wakandan Prince turned King, T'Challa, stood nearby, now dressed in casual clothing and also looked mildly amused at Sarah's exchange with the officer and Steve.

They re-secured her, causing her to grin cheekily at Steve and Sam before the three of them were led away. She turned as they were led deeper into the bunker style facility, watching as Bucky's prison pod was carried away by a forklift, frowning.

She looked to Steve, who met her gaze solemnly, before continuing to watch Bucky be carried away. They saw Sharon approaching them beside a short, grey haired man. Steve waved back the armed guards who had been surrounding Sarah, grabbing her by the arm and leading her towards Sharon, causing the guards to shift uncomfortably and look to Sharon for orders. She simply nodded and waved them off as Steve approached.

"What's gonna happen to him?" he asked, looking at Sharon as Sam and T'Challa followed.

The little suited man beside Sharon answered. "Same thing that ought to happen to you. Psychological evaluation and extradition," he answered haughtily. Sarah narrowed her eyes at him, but said nothing. She knew of this man, she had heard the chatter of him, read his file at some point. It was nothing really that interesting.

Sharon looked exasperated by his presence. "This is Everett Ross, Deputy Task Force Commander."

"What, couldn't even get the big guy to greet us? Had to send his lacky?" Sarah asked, smirking. Everett looked furious at her, but Steve cut in before he could respond, as well as elbowing her roughly.

"What about our lawyer?"

Everett scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. "Lawyer. That's funny. See that their weapons are placed in lockup," he ordered, before looking back to the group. "Oh, we'll write you a receipt." He turned and began to walk away, motioning that they should follow. Sarah saw Sharon roll her eyes before she followed behind him.

"I better not look out the window and see anybody flying around in that," Sam muttered loudly, causing Sarah to chuckle quietly.

* * *

Steve paced the office he and Sam had been directed to wait in. As if the stress of their current situation wasn't enough, Steve had just had it out with Tony about the Accords, why he was trying to protect Bucky and now hiding Sarah's existence from him.

Howard's son was so hard-headed and arrogant, he had no idea that this whole situation was a lot more complicated than he realized, and now, Steve didn't trust him. He was in Secretary Ross's pocket, that was obvious from the phone call he had overheard.

That wasn't his only concern right now. Sarah had been taken away for questioning, and he worried immensely for her. He was worried about whether or not she would be dragged away for some kind of testing, or worse still, locked up like Bucky.

He knew she had already undergone testing when she had joined SSR back in 1944, and he himself had been a lab rat for a long time too, before he forced himself to be put to use, taking her with him. He didn't want her to have to go through that ordeal again.

His thoughts were interrupted when Sharon entered the office.

"Hey," she greeted apologetically. Steve offered her a tight smile. It wasn't her fault that they were there, but she wasn't exactly on their side for the time being.

She handed a piece of paper to Sam, who was seated at the table of the meeting room. Sam accepted the paper, reading it before looking back up at her in exasperation. "Bird costume? Come on."

Sharon held her hands up in surrender. "I didn't write it."

"Is there any news on Sarah or Bucky?" Steve asked, folding his arms and looking at Sharon expectantly.

"The Psychologist will be here in about an hour to assess Bucky, but Sarah is being assessed right now by agents and a doctor has been in to see her."

"A doctor? Is this about her arm?" Sam asked in surprise. Steve knew Sam had been worried about Sarah's injury, even though she tried to reassure them she was fine.

"This is about everything, her ability to heal, her longevity, everything," Sharon replied, shaking her head. Steve didn't like her tone, Sharon sounded worried.

"Can I speak to someone about her? Explain it?"

"That wouldn't end well," Sam murmured, shaking his head. Steve frowned at Sam, before looking back at Sharon.

"I'm not sure that would be enough," Sharon replied ruefully. "Is there any files on her that aren't redacted or destroyed from when she was at SSR?"

Steve was quiet, remembering everything that Sarah had told him about 'Project Shadow' and her exit from SHIELD not long after it's formation. He shook his head. "Can we at least see her?"

Sharon bit her lip, before looking towards the door. She moved over towards a comm station situated in the middle of the large board table in the meeting room, hitting one of the buttons on the side, and then a number. The large screen behind Steve activated and showed a small room where Sarah was sitting, appearing quite relaxed as two men stood before her.

"Who do you work for?"

Sarah raised her eyebrows, before leaning forwards, causing both agents to lean back nervously. She reached up with both hands, since they were back in handcuffs, and reached into her mouth with two fingers. There was the sound of cracking and she winced, making both agents jump and move to restrain her, but she simply removed her fingers from her mouth again, holding a single white tooth between her fingers.

"What on earth…" Sam breathed, leaning forwards in his seat as he stared at the screen. Steve and Sharon glanced at each other before continuing to watch the live feed.

Sarah crushed the tooth between her two fingers easily, before revealing a tiny microSD card. She placed it on the table in front of her. "I would recommend you call in Steve Rogers before you open that up."

* * *

Sarah waited patiently in the interrogation room. She was strangely nervous. She had finally enacted 'Protocol Enlighten'. Now that Peggy was well and truly gone, SHIELD had collapsed and, well, she was in the shit, there was a need to let parts of the world know she existed. The problem was, how well was it going to go down?

She laid her forehead against the cold steel table she was handcuffed to, sighing. This could end very badly.

She didn't even bother to lift her head when the door to the room opened. She only raised it when Steve's scent entered the room. She straightened up, seeing him looking back at her in relief.

Everett Ross also walked in, although he didn't seem too happy. "Ma'am, we have some questions, but we will be releasing you from your cuffs and making you more comfortable."

She raised an eyebrow and smirked, slipping her hands out of the cuffs herself. "Allow me." She stood up, striding out of the room, with Steve doing his best to hide a smile and following her out.

Sharon led them into a board room, which featured a large table where Sam was already sitting.

"Hey pretty lady," he greeted, smiling. He stood up, offering a fist towards her, which she bumped with her own and offered a smile.

"Have fun?"

"Without you? Not at all."

"If you don't mind," Everett cut in, motioning to a chair with an annoyed expression on his face.

Sarah glanced at Steve, who nodded and pulled out a seat for her beside Sam. She accepted it, muttering her thanks, as Sharon and Ross moved to the opposite side of the table, but neither sat down. Sarah noticed Sharon shoot an anxious look from Ross to her, making Sarah raise her eyebrows expectantly.

She was ready.

"So, that file you gave us. Protocol Enlighten. Interesting read."

"Isn't it, just?" she answered in a non-chalant manner. None of it was news to her. When she had made her move to leave the SSR just before SHIELD was enacted, Peggy had sat down and written out 'Protocol Enlighten' as a fail safe in case Sarah ever found herself in big trouble and Peggy was no longer around to save her.

Sarah's eyes drifted to the young Carter in front of her. In the file she had handed over, was a video file Peggy had filmed, explaining their actions and Sarah's mission as a rogue agent. She wondered if Sharon had been privy to the video. The young agent was carefully schooling her facial expressions, a trick her aunt was also very good at.

Ross frowned, sitting back folding his arms across his chest, something she noticed he did a lot when he was frustrated. "So tell me, Agent Jones, what are you?"

She raised her eyebrows at him expectantly. "Sorry, was the late Director's explanation not direct enough?"

He grimaced slightly, before continuing. "No, she was pretty clear about it, but I want to hear it from you. What are you? Some kind of man eater, how do we know you're not going to go on a killing rampage?"

"Ah," she answered, putting her hand on Steve and Sam's arms as she felt both tense as if they might jump the table. "That's a fair question, but if you had read further through the files I passed to you, there is a solution that has been created to quell that need. And even if I did have that need, I'm sure I could find some bottom dwellers you guys want out of the picture to satisfy the urge." She grinned. Ross blinked and frowned again. "And as for the man eater, only if they're ruggedly handsome and know how to handle a woman such as myself." She winked, causing Ross to blush profusely and clear his throat as he quickly stood and moved around the table.

Sarah smirked, noticing Sharon was doing her best to subdue a grin that was trying to force its way through, and Sam sniggered. Steve on the other hand, elbowed her roughly, throwing her a disapproving look.

"Look, Ross, Lieutenant Jones has been a member of my team since before you were born. I would and have trusted my life to her, as did every one of my men, including that man that you have locked up. I highly recommend you end your investigation now and let her go."

"Oh, you recommend it? I'll take that under advisement," Ross retorted snidely. He looked to want to say something else, but was interrupted by his phone ringing. He glanced at the screen, before smirking. "Heh, the psychologist is here, we aren't done here. She still needs to be registered according to the –"

"Yeah, yeah, the Accords that haven't officially been signed off on yet. We get it." Sarah rolled her eyes earning her a glare from Ross, but he didn't continue the conversation, hurrying out of the room.

Sharon sighed, slouching slightly, before running her hand through her hair. "You guys will have to stay here for the moment."

"What's going to happen to Bucky?" Steve demanded, standing. Sharon grimaced, before glancing towards the commlink on the table. She pressed a button and the screen in the room changed to show Bucky in the prison pod, with a table positioned before it and a man moving to sit in front of it.

Sarah stood up and moved to get a closer look at the screen. "What exactly is the psychologist assessing for?" she asked Sharon.

"Whether he is sound of mind," Sharon answered.

"Can we get sound?" Sarah asked, noticing that the doctor was speaking. Sharon hit another button and the doctor's voice flowed through the speakers quietly.

"_I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions. Do you know where you are, James? I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James," _the doctor said quietly, in a tone that reminded Sarah of a teacher speaking to an upset child. It irked her immediately and put her on edge.

"_My name is Bucky."_ Sarah glanced over at Steve who was now standing and watching the screen with an anxious expression on his face. He smirked slightly at Bucky's response, before looking down at the files on the centre of the table that Sharon had brought in for them. Sarah moved back to her seat, sitting down to watch the assessment. Her arm was still bothering her a little, so wanted to rest whenever possible.

She watched Steve as he picked up the blurry image of the man who had placed the bomb, that was allegedly Bucky, although she still swore it was not him. Even looking at Bucky now, strapped in the prison pod, it was quite evident he was far more heavy set than the man in the image. Bucky had bulked up quite a bit since their last encounter in Washington.

"Why would the Task Force release this photo to begin with?" Steve asked finally, although Sarah wasn't sure he was looking for an answer or thinking out loud. She raised an eyebrow at Steve's question, slightly confused as to why he even needed to ask, the answer was pretty obvious, she thought.

"Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?" Sharon answered matter-of-factly.

"Right. It's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb, get your picture taken. Get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier." Steve dropped the image in front of Sarah and looked at her meaningfully. "You said it wasn't him. How sure are you?"

Sharon looked between the pair. "You're saying someone framed him to find him?"

"Steve, we looked for the guy for two years and found nothing," Sam pointed out.

"Didn't we? One of us did. She just didn't trust us." Sarah grimaced. He wasn't going to let that go any time soon. He looked away from Sarah to look at Sam pointedly. " And we didn't bomb the UN. That turns a lot of heads."

"Yeah, but that doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him. It guarantees that we would…" Sharon frowned before glancing at the doctor on the screen, narrowing her eyes as she looked at him.

Steve also looked back at the screen. "Yeah." He looked back to Sarah. "You didn't trust me before, and I get why, you wanted to protect Bucky and give him time. I get it," Steve said seriously, leaning down and looking at her seriously. She looked back at Steve expectantly. "I need you to trust me now. You, me and Sam are all he has now. I need to know, how certain are you, that it wasn't him?"

Sarah frowned slightly, before picking up the image Steve had placed on the table in front of her and holding it up to look at it again.

"_Tell me, Bucky. You've seen a great deal, haven't you?"_

"_I don't want to talk about it."_

"This guy, is nowhere near the right size to be Bucky. Look at him, the face is too blurry for even me to work out, but there is no way Bucky lost that much bulk weight in a day. This guy is closer to that doctor's size than Bucky's." Everyone looked back at the screen, analyzing Bucky as the doctor continued.

"_You fear that… if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop. Don't worry._ _We only have to talk about one."_

"What?" Sarah's attention was drawn to the doctor at his comment. Suddenly, Sarah felt like there was a strange electronic buzz all around her that gave her goosebumps, seconds before the power went out.

* * *

Steve looked around the board room as the emergency lighting system kicked into gear, a dull red lighting barely illuminating the room.

Sam and Sarah both stood up, looking at each other with concerned expressions on their faces. Steve looked to Sharon, her eyes wide as she realized what was happening. "Sub-level 5, east wing."

All four rushed from the room, the trio following closely behind Sharon. Steve saw Sarah turn and look past him. "We've got a tail."

Steve glanced over his shoulder and just made out the Wakandan King following behind them at a distance. "Don't worry about him, we've got to get to Bucky first."

"Roger that," she acknowledged, before disappearing into a black mist and speeding ahead of them.

"Damn it, did she have to do that right in front of me," Sam groaned, Steve noticing him shudder involuntarily.

Sharon came to a halt at an intersection. "That way, I have to go and report in, try and block any exits."

"Be careful," Steve warned as Sam hurried away in the direction she had motioned. She nodded once, before running off, Steve turning and hurrying after Sam.

They followed the signs to Sub-Level 5, hurrying into the East Wing, finding bodies strewn all throughout the bunker style room that was flooded with flashing red emergency lights. Strangely, there seemed to be no physical harm to any of the bodies there. It was as if they had all fallen where they stood without a struggle. There was one elevator and the stairs they had walked through, as well as one large metal door in the right wall.

"What happened here?" Sam murmured, looking around in awe of the mess. "And where's Sarah?"

Steve glanced to his right and noticed a black mist disappear below the heavy metal door. Steve pointed to it, before he and Sam hurriedly moved to open it. Once it was open, they both carefully picked their way through the room. There were more bodies here, but these ones were beaten and bloody.

"Help me, Help…" came a voice, and Steve recognized it as the doctor from the live feed of Bucky's assessment. He looked around, seeing the doctor slumped on the floor.

Steve moved towards him. "Get up", he growled, grabbing him roughly by the front of his shirt and shoving him up against a wall. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The doctor chuckled and smirked at Steve. "To see an empire fall," he hissed.

As Sam walked throughout the room, investigating the bodies lying there, Bucky appeared from the shadows, swinging his fist at the former soldier, his fist smashing through the wall as Sam ducked. "Shit!"

Bucky moved to grab him by the jaw with his metal hand, but as he reached for Sam, a familiar black mist appeared before Sam, wrapping around Bucky's outstretched wrist and she reformed. "No." She twisted his arm, causing the hydraulics to squeal with effort before shoving him backwards. Both she and Sam moved to restrain Bucky, but he fought back, first throwing a punch that connected with Sam and threw him back at the prison pod. Sam slumped onto the floor and remained still.

Sarah kicked out at Bucky, forcing him back several feet, but he turned and lunged at her, trying to grab her around the throat. She ducked, spinning on one knee to avoid another strike, before jumping up and attaching herself to Bucky by way of her arms around his throat and her legs around his mid-section.

Steve dropped the doctor and lurched into the fight as Bucky reached up and grabbed roughly at her interlocked arms with his metal arm, a sickening crack exuding as he reefed forwards with all his strength and causing Sarah to scream in pain. Clearly her newly repaired arm was still weak from it's previous break as she fell from his back. Steve quickly attacked, landing a punch which Bucky seemed to barely feel. Bucky kicked and punched at Steve, forcing him out of the chamber.

They traded blows, but all the while, Bucky was out powering and outmaneuvering Steve. He found himself backed against the elevator door, as Bucky attacked him again, moving to punch his head. Steve dodged it just in time, causing Bucky's metal fist to go through the elevator door. Steve managed to block the next one, but the power behind it forced him through the weakened elevator doors and he tumbled down into the darkness below.

He landed in a heap at the bottom of the shaft. Steve took a moment to try and regather his thoughts and test his body for any injuries, before groaning as he tried to straighten and looked around the shaft for any idea of how to get out. He heard a shout high above him from Sam, before there were running footsteps.

Steve began looking for footholds, trying to climb out of the elevator shaft, when he heard shuffling and groaning above him.

"Steve, you good?" It was Sarah.

"Sarah! Are you okay?" he asked, trying to crane his neck to see her. He could just make out her face in the light through the elevator doors.

"I'll live, need some help?"

"Don't worry about me, we have to get Bucky. I'll find a way out. Subdue him, get him out of here."

"Sure, you say that like it's easy," he heard her mutter, before there was a loud crack and she sighed. "I'll get him out of here." With that, he heard her footsteps hurrying away and he began to try and find his own way out.

* * *

**xo**

**Krayzee**


	5. That Vanishing Trick

**Hello!**

**Another chapter coming at you, slowly but surely.**

**Enjoy**

**xo**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**That Vanishing Trick**

Bucky stalked through the building's ground floor, dispatching two guards easily as they tried to stop him, acquiring a handgun from one. Sharon peered around a corner of the cafeteria area, spotting The Winter Soldier as he made his way towards them.

She glanced over to Natasha who was positioned a little further away from her, nodding once.

Natasha Romanoff touched her ear once, before muttering. "We're in position."

Sharon looked back towards Bucky in time to see Tony step out from behind a column, one of his Iron Man gauntlets on his hand, firing a stun burst at Bucky before he could shoot a nearby guard who tried to get in his way. The blast unbalanced Bucky, and Tony rushed towards him, firing again.

Bucky ducked the blast then began to trade blows with Tony, firing the gun, Tony only just in time to put his gauntleted hand over the barrel as he fired, blocking the shot. He stared at Bucky in shock, as he pulled the gun barrel loose then smacked Tony backwards with his metal fist.

Sharon rushed Bucky, with Natasha close on her heels. Teaming up, they both managed to land kicks and punches, disarming him of his handgun, before Bucky was able to catch Sharon mid kick, throwing her roughly and causing her to flip head over heels. She crashed through some tables in the cafeteria and landed heavily on the ground, not moving.

Natasha took his distraction and leapt onto Bucky, wrapping her legs around his neck. She began to try and pummel him from above with her elbow, causing him to walk around wildly as he tried to loosen her hold on him. He grabbed her about the hips, before slamming her onto a table and grabbing her around the throat.

He began to squeeze, his cold eyes glaring down at her. Natasha began to gasp for air as he applied pressure, cutting her airways. "You could at least recognize me," she gasped, trying to pull his hand away from her throat.

Suddenly, T'Challa appeared from nowhere, kicking Bucky off Natasha and causing her to slide to the ground as she tried to regather her breath.

T'Challa continued to attack Bucky with lightning fast kicks and punches. They continued to trade blows, while ducking and weaving or trying to counter-attack, looking for openings in each other's defence. Bucky struck out at T'Challa, managing to land a punch and causing T'Challa to fall to the ground and The Winter Soldier took the opportunity to hurry up a nearby staircase.

T'Challa was quick to recover, jumping up easily to cut off Bucky's escape by vaulting a railing and landing in front of him. Bucky looked back at him in surprise, moving to attack him again, but T'Challa countered his punch with a spin kick, forcing him back into the railing. T'Challa leapt forward, trying to secure Bucky's metal arm, grabbing hold of it.

The hydraulics in the arm kicked in, beginning to whir and T'Challa fought to maintain control. He moved to try and grab Bucky in another position, but Bucky fought back, causing the pair to fall backwards, and both tumbled down the stairs to the next landing.

Bucky stood, moving to punch a recovering T'Challa with his metal hand. T'Challa tried to block, clenching his eyes shut as he raised his hands and turned his head to brace for the impact.

"If you could move at any time, that would be great, your highness," a female voice growled. He opened his eyes to find the woman that had been detained with them, holding Bucky's metal arm at bay. Bucky turned to try and attack the woman, grabbing her by the arm and T'Challa was quick to respond, also turning and sweeping his leg low, catching the back of Bucky's legs.

The Winter Soldier's feet were thrown forwards, causing him to be knocked over the railing, taking the woman with him. T'Challa was quick to his feet again, leaping down after the pair, only to find the reception and cafeteria area completely empty.

* * *

Sarah reformed after misting while holding Bucky, panting at the effort. Steve was a big man, but Bucky was bigger. Not to mention her arm was broken again, Bucky was trying to fight her the whole three hundred metres they had travelled and she was probably going to need another dose of solution soon.

Bucky punched at her as they both reformed, connecting with her cheek and sending her several feet backwards. She landed heavily on the ground several feet away from him. "For Christ sake, Sergeant Barnes, stop!" she shouted angrily as he strode towards her. He seemed to falter slightly, hesitantly stopping before her. She narrowed her eyes at the reaction. "I'm trying to help you!"

His right eye twitched, and she raised her eyebrows slowly in surprise. She cautiously stood up, before speaking again, deciding to try something else.

"_You know me, you remember me. Let me help you…"_ she said in Russian, knowing that when the HYDRA used Bucky for missions, his orders were in Russian. He watched her, no emotion showing on his face and she decided to tempt fate, taking a step towards him.

Suddenly, his metal fist struck out towards her, catching her on the cheek. Although surprised, the attack didn't knock her from her feet, and she clenched her jaw in annoyance. "Ow." She grabbed Bucky roughly with her good arm and threw him towards a set of stairs angrily. He landed roughly, and she rushed towards him, looking to pin him to the ground, or subdue him, whichever came first.

As she reached him, he kicked out at her, and she jumped sideways in an effort to avoid his strike, but he leapt to his feet and grabbed her about the middle, turning and slamming her onto the staircase behind her. Her head began to swim from the impact of her head on the concrete step and she saw a blurry Bucky stand, looking down at her, before he began to walk up the stairs.

She tried to get back to her feet, knowing she needed to stop him now before he got away from them and went dark, but her blurred vision made her sway as she tried to stand. She heard footsteps behind her, and strong hands grabbed her, steadying her.

"Jones," Steve said, moving to kneel in front of her as he brought her back to the ground. She sat back down, raising a hand to her eyes in an effort to try and clear her head. Steve bent down slightly, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her. She tried to look back at him, urging her vision to clear. She was able to make out that he wasn't so much looking at her face, but at her mouth.

She ran her fingers along her top lip, feeling her teeth were slightly exposed and became aware of the slightest itch at the back of her throat. "Oh dear."

"Have you got any solution on you?" he asked, moving to look at the back of her head where she had been slammed into the step.

"Yeah, they gave me back my necklace," she replied, pulling it out. When arresting them, they had taken everything from her, including her spare vials, but had missed the one inside the necklace. In the digital packet explaining who and what she was, it had mentioned the solution, what it failed to mention was her delivery system.

Steve looked back at her face satisfied, before looking back up the stairs. Sarah realized he wanted to go after Bucky, but he was also worried about her. "Go, I'll be right behind you once I've controlled the monster."

Sarah's vision began to clear slightly, and she saw Steve look back at her with an annoyed glare. "You're not a monster."

"Right, right, just act like one when I'm hungry," she retorted rolling her eyes as she lifted the platinum bar to her lips. She punctured the vile with her teeth and began to sip on the cool liquid. "Irrelevant right now, though, don't you think? Because if you don't hurry, Bucky is going to get away, and I have nothing on him to track him right now," she said pointedly, her voice slightly muffled as she still held her necklace to her teeth.

Steve frowned at her again, before hurrying to his feet and running up the stairs two at a time.

* * *

Steve hurried up the stairs, finally bursting through the door to the roof after what felt like a hundred floors, to see Bucky climbing into the pilot's seat of a helicopter situated on the rooftop helipad. Steve sprinted for the chopper, as it began to lift from the helipad, Bucky was trying to make his escape.

He rushed forward, grabbing one of the skids, beginning to try and weigh it down, his feet skidding along the concrete as he tried to stop Bucky from lifting off from the roof top. The chopper dragged him to the very edge of the rooftop, forcing Steve onto the chain link fence that acted as a safety barrier. He continued to try and pull the chopper down, catching onto a nearby railing and using all the strength he could muster to try and hold the chopper in place.

As Steve worked to hold the aircraft in place and prevent it from taking off, Bucky suddenly slammed the joystick into a hard left turn, causing the aircraft to dive towards Steve on the helipad. The nose of the helicopter slammed into the side of the helipad, the rotor-blades smashing against the concrete and splintering dangerously. Steve dove out of the way as the fuselage of the helicopter spun, the tail swinging close overhead before the chopper came to rest dangerously close to the edge of the safety barrier.

Steve looked up from his position, looking up at the wreckage and seeing Bucky sitting motionless in the pilot's seat inside the twisted and damaged wreckage of the aircraft. He stood, brushing himself down, before he walked towards his old friend carefully, looking through the window to see if he was hurt. He stooped low, peering through the window once he was close enough to look him over properly.

Suddenly, the glass of the canopy smashed, as Bucky's metal hand burst through the glass, grabbing Steve around the throat and beginning to squeeze. Steve tried to pull away, but Bucky was too strong. As Steve stared back at Bucky while trying to free himself, he saw an emptiness in Bucky's eyes. The emotions he had seen in Bucky's eyes in Bucharest and even in their fight over the Potomac were gone.

This was The Winter Soldier.

Suddenly, the chopper began to list, shifting as the chain link fence began to give way under the weight of the chopper. Steve began to fight against Bucky's grip harder, but he wasn't letting go. Behind him, he heard a door slammed open.

"STEVE!"

The chopper finally fell over the edge, Bucky maintaining his hold on Steve as it tumbled down towards the river below.

Steve closed his eyes, preparing for the impact as the river rushed towards him. What he wasn't expecting was the feel of his body being enveloped in a sudden freezing cold crush, before it felt like his body was split into a million pieces and pulled in hundreds of different directions.

Within seconds it felt like he had been stitched back together and dropped into freezing cold water. He opened his eyes, feeling the pressure on his throat gone but instead of taking in air when he gasped, he gulped water.

A strong hand grabbed him by the back of his shirt, hoisting his head out of the water. He gasped for air and coughed up water, looking around wildly, before seeing the remnants of the chopper a short distance away from him. He turned again, seeing Sarah holding him up, with Bucky also supported in her other arm.

"You okay?"

Steve coughed slightly, trying to expel the last of the water from his lungs. "I'll be okay," he removed himself from Sarah's grasp and moved to help her get Bucky out of the water, dragging him onto the bank and hiding in the bushes.

Sarah looked back up to the helipad while Steve checked over Bucky for any serious injuries. "He seems okay," he murmured, as Sarah returned to also check him over.

"Physically he's fine, it's his head that is the issue. I can't tell you who he will wake up as, we should find a way to contain him until we can be absolutely sure," she replied, ringing out her hair as she stood back up.

"And find Sam," Steve added, remembering that they had left their friend and colleague behind while pursuing Bucky.

"Leave that to me, you find somewhere we can secure him," Sarah replied, before misting instantly.

* * *

Sarah looked out the door of the warehouse, watching for any sign of being pursued. They were bunkered down in an old abandoned factory that still contained a few pieces of machinery, one of those being an industrial vice.

After securing Steve and Bucky, she had returned for Sam, finding him fleeing the JTTF building after trying to pursue the alleged doctor. He had lost him in the panicked crowd of civilians also evacuating the building after Bucky's escape, but he had picked up the doctor's jacket, which would prove useful for his scent.

Once they had secured Bucky's arm in the vice, Sarah had offered to keep watch, especially since she wanted to take a moment to think. With everything that had happened, she hadn't had any time to consider what had happened over the course of the last 24 hours, and one thing in particular was bugging her.

"_But I see other memories, of people I don't know, in a country I've never been to before."_

Bucky's words in Bucharest stuck in her mind, causing her to think carefully about the moment she had sifted through his memories.

Her concern was based upon things she had heard while residing with a rogue coven in Egypt in the late 1900s, regarding a vampire's ability to pass on their memories through a simple touch. She had been told only a rare and powerful vampire was capable of doing it so easily, but also that when a vampire found it's soulmate it was also possible, albeit even then, uncommon.

Not because of a vampire's ability, but because a vampire finding its soulmate was so rare. Most soulmates were the ones they left behind in the mortal world, and very rarely would they cross each other's paths due to the differences in their worlds.

She tried to convince herself that those memories he claimed to be unfamiliar with were simply memories HYDRA had previously locked away. Memories from missions, or from his past life with Steve. That had to be it, surely.

The stories said that the only vampires with such an ability to pass on memories were born, not made, and she was made from the indiscretion of an ancient vampire. And there was no way that Bucky was her soul mate, no mortal could ever be her soul mate.

She leant against the doorway and watched as helicopters flew in the sky several miles away, watching their patterns carefully while contemplating the information at hand. She was torn from her thoughts by the sound of heavy footfalls behind her, recognizing Steve's footsteps.

She turned, looking at him expectantly.

"Hey," he greeted, looking wearily at her.

She offered him a small smile. "Hey." He moved to lean against the opposite doorway, looking out back towards the city where the helicopters flew overhead, although she was well aware that he probably couldn't see them. "Authorities seem to think we stayed in the city, if the chopper's patterns are anything to go by."

"That's a lucky break for us, I guess."

Sarah raised an eyebrow, looking at him pointedly. His tone made it obvious to her that he had something on his mind. More than likely something to do with her indiscretions in the last 24 hours, no doubt. She sighed, folding her arms and looking back outside. "Have at it, Steve."

She saw him also fold his arms, lowering his head to look at the ground and laugh. "No, I'm not going to."

She looked at Steve in surprise. "Come again?"

He chuckled again, lifting his head to look at her. "I'm not going to waste my breath, I've known you long enough to understand you don't let other people's thoughts and feelings shape what you decide is the best thing to do."

She narrowed her eyes and pinned him with a suspicious glare. "Explain to me what I did on the Helicarrier over the Potomac then?"

He looked back at her pointedly. "That was different, and you know it. I'm stubborn, I know that. And you were trying to save both of us."

She pressed her lips together and sighed, rolling her eyes. "Still, I know you have something to say. We've known each other long enough that I know you've got a whole spiel ready for me."

"I don't know about a whole spiel…" She fixed him with a glare, causing him to chuckle again. "Look, I'm just glad that you kept him safe, and you were there for him to give him what he needed."

She scratched her head and looked away from Steve. This was getting too much for her. "I don't get you Steve, one second you want to rip into me, the next you're thanking me!" She threw her hands in the air.

Steve laughed again, standing up and walking over to her. She narrowed her eyes at him and stiffened slightly, causing him to smirk at her. He leant forward, causing her to lean back and hiss through her teeth at him. He didn't seem perturbed. "For a monster, you've got a lot of heart, watching out for everyone." He smirked again, before stepping away as she wrinkled her nose at him. "That vanishing trick is disturbing though, no matter how many times I've done it with you."

Sarah stared at him for a moment, her mouth slightly ajar. Obviously, he wasn't aware of how that sounded, and she began to chuckle to herself, shaking her head slightly. He smiled at her again, before looking over his shoulder as Sam appeared from further inside the factory.

"Guys, he's awake."

* * *

Steve hurried into the workroom of the factory where they had secured Bucky into the industrial vice. He looked groggy and confused. He looked up as he and Sarah entered behind Sam.

"Sarah…Steve…" he said quietly, grimacing as if he was in pain.

Steve looked to Sarah, who didn't take her eyes from his friend, appearing to be trying to analyse him from a distance. When she looked back at Steve, she gave him a barely noticeable nod. He turned back to look at Bucky. "Which Bucky am I talking to?"

He was quiet for a moment, appearing contemplative, before he gave a small smile. "Your mom's name was Sarah." He chuckled then. "You used to wear newspapers in your shoes." He glanced up at Steve through his hair.

Steve sighed before smirking and looking at Sarah. "Can't read that in a museum."

"Just like that, we're supposed to be cool?" Sam asked indignantly.

Bucky's gaze moved to Sarah. "And you're really a princess, but you hate being treated like one, even threatening to cut Dum Dum's hands off if he even tried to carry you through the water in Germany once."

Steve raised his eyebrows, before glancing sideways at Sarah. Sure enough, she looked very sullen, pressing her lips into a thin line and folding her arms. "He's fine…" she muttered, looking away from him. Steve did his best to hide his grin. That was definitely something only he and Bucky knew about Sarah.

"Wait…what?" Sam asked grinning and looking from Bucky to Sarah. She raised a finger at Sam, flashing red eyes once and causing Sam to raise his hands in surrender, taking a step back.

Bucky looked back at his arm in the vice, before looking back down to the ground. "What did I do?"

Steve took a deep breath, putting his hands on his hips. There was no denying it to Bucky, his current position made it obvious that something serious had gone down. "Enough."

His old friend groaned, clenching his hand into a fist. "Oh, God, I knew this would happen. Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words."

"What words?" Sarah demanded, but Steve held a hand up. There was something more important he needed to know right now.

"Who was he?"

"I don't know."

Steve folded his arms across his chest, looking seriously at Bucky. Considering how much effort the man had gone to in trying to get to Bucky, he was going to need a little more than that. "People are dead. The bombing, the setup. The doctor did all that just to get 10 minutes with you. I need you to do better than 'I don't know.'"

"He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where."

In the corner of his eye, Steve saw Sarah straighten slightly and clench her own fist. He ignored her reaction and continued querying Bucky. "Why would he need to know that?"

"I'm not the only Winter Soldier."

* * *

**xo**

**Krayzee**


	6. Oveloaded

**Hi everyone,**

**Kind of lost my mojo, and got side tracked with other hobbies and work.**

**Here is the next chapter though, I hope you're all staying safe in the strange times we live in currently.**

**Enjoy**

**xo**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Overloaded**

Sarah moved forward and grabbed the remote control for the vice.

"Whoa, hang on," Sam objected, earning an annoyed look from her.

"Honestly, who is scarier, him or me?" she asked pointedly, letting her eyes flash once and smirking. When he didn't respond she raised her eyebrows before pushing the release button, causing the vice to release Bucky's arm from its grip.

Bucky let out a moan of relief, falling forward to let his arm hit the floor with a metallic thunk. Sarah stepped across and leant down, touching his shoulder and checking him over. He looked up and met her gaze. She offered him a small smile, before touching his face to check the few scratches that were there.

He reached up with his hand and grabbed hers, making her jump slightly, but his grasp was warm and firm, with no malice. She looked at him in confusion. "I'm sorry."

She offered him a sympathetic smile. "We can talk about it later," she replied, gently taking her hand from his and putting it on his shoulder. She stood up, looking back at Steve and Sam, before giving them a slight nod and moving to stand to the side.

"Who were they?" Steve asked, crossing his arms and returning to the previous subject.

"Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in HYDRA history. And that was before the serum," Bucky replied, sitting back on the ground.

"They all turn out like you?" Sam asked, the poison in his voice clear to Sarah. She narrowed her eyes at him, knowing full well it would chill him to the bone. Sam grimaced and stood up a little straighter.

"Worse."

"I've heard of these people. four men and one woman. All of them enhanced in some way, with specialties ranging from hand to hand, ranged weapons, explosives and espionage, but all capable," Sarah interjected, remembering some of the rumours from her travels and missions throughout Europe. There had always been whispers about a squad of elite assassins capable of doing superhuman things, and for a short time she was concerned that maybe there was a game afoot by her own kind.

Steve looked back to Bucky. "The doctor, could he control them?"

Bucky nodded. "Enough."

Steve looked to Sarah and then to Sam. "Said he wanted to see an empire fall."

"With these guys he could do it. They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize. They can take a whole country down in one night. You'd never see them coming."

The room was silent for a moment as they all considered the information. Sarah tried to recall some of her European missions and the strange circumstances surrounding several deaths of high ranking SSR and SHIELD personnel. She had always suspected something wasn't right about how they had managed to infiltrate many of the locations, but she could never exactly pinpoint who or what had done, except for Bucky. His scent always stood out to her.

Sam moved towards Steve, motioning for Sarah to join them too. "This would have been a lot easier a week ago."

Steve looked thoughtful before speaking. "If we call Tony…"

Sarah scoffed. "No, he won't believe us," Sam objected, shaking his head.

"Even if he did…" Steve murmured.

"Who knows if the Accords would let him help," Sam replied.

"They would probably want to flex their muscle and show the world that they have control of the Avengers and the great Iron Man now," Sarah pointed, shaking her head with sigh.

Steve looked from Sam to Sarah. "We're on our own."

Sarah shrugged. "But we've got Bucky now," she pointed out, nodding in his direction. Steve gave her a small smile. "The gangs back together again."

Steve smiled. "Yeah, but we're still on our own, the four of us can't take on the like of four super soldiers."

"Since when have you been so pessimistic?" she demanded looking at him incredulously. The one thing about Steve that had always annoyed her was his annoyingly optimistic outlook. She was a realist, but he could never see the bad in anything. That is, until the accords.

"I know a guy," Sam interjected, causing both to look at him. He shrugged, pulling out his phone. "I'll make a call."

Sarah watched him walk away before a thought struck her. "Crazy idea, but what about Barton?"

Steve furrowed his brow at her. "He's retired."

"Every retiree has a comeback in them," she winked. "Trust me. I've been around awhile." Steve gave a small laugh at that, before nodding and following Sam out of the workshop. Sarah turned back to look at Bucky, finding him watching her.

* * *

Bucky sat back as Sarah walked towards him, her face expressionless as she moved to sit on a bench next to the vice. She was dressed completely in black, in what appeared to be some kind of fitted armoured body suit. It showed all her curves, something he had never seen of her before their meeting in the alleyway in Bucharest after he had activated the beacon. Her long black hair was sleeked back in a high ponytail and not a single strand out of place. Strangely, although her face showed no wounds, her armour had obviously taken a fair beating recently and he was suddenly racked with a feeling of guilt.

"So, you want to talk about it?" she asked as she leant back against the vice.

He sighed. "Sorry."

"You already said that," she retorted, raising an eyebrow. "How's your head?"

He looked down at his feet. "A mess."

"A little overloaded?" she asked, the curiosity evident in her voice.

"It's like he said the words, and a black blanket was taken off a heap of memories. Just, so many faces and places, things I remember actually doing, but then there are others…" he trailed off, seeing these strange places that seemed to be from a time even before his own. "I don't even know if they're real or if HYDRA put them there. And then, he had me in the palm of his hand."

He looked up and saw Sarah watching him with a thoughtful expression. "Can I see?" she asked finally. "The memories, I mean."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. While a lot of his memories were a jumble, the one thing he could remember was that she hated using those powers on people. "I can't make you do that," he murmured, looking down at the ground again. "I know you don't like using your powers on people."

She knelt down beside him, putting her hand on his. He felt the icy chill of her fingers against his skin, but it felt strangely comforting and familiar. He looked up at her again, to see her looking at him sympathetically, and he wondered if perhaps she was using her abilities to control his mood. "I know I said that, but if it means helping you, then I'll do what I have to do." She offered him a smile, giving his hand a comforting squeeze.

He was torn. He remembered the conversation in her tent seventy years ago, when she had turned down his request to delve into his memories after being experimented on by Zola. But that was also seventy years ago. "Are you sure?"

She smiled again, before moving to kneel in front of him. "Let's see what we can do." She looked at him with an expression he couldn't quite read, it seemed to be a combination of apologetic and sympathetic. Then, her icy cold fingers were touching his face, although ever so gently.

Suddenly, it was like a bucket of cold water was poured over his body and his mind was filled with a rush of imagery. He reached up, grabbing her arms, looking to pull them away from his face as he felt intense pain, squeezing his eyes shut in an effort to block out the pain.

"Wait, Bucky," she hissed, drawing his attention back to her face. His eyes locked with hers and although he could see she too was suffering some pain, he felt himself calming. "We can do this."

He swallowed thickly, but closed his eyes again and began to focus on the images flowing through his mind again, and strangely, they began to slow, the onslaught easing slightly.

There was a memory of he and Steve when they were kids, Bucky helping Steve on his paper run one day when he had nothing better to do. Another memory appeared, when he dragged Steve on another double date, Steve looking as miserable as ever. He felt Sarah chuckle through the slightest vibrations in her hands, smiling as his eyes focused on her again. There was the smallest smile on her face, although her eyes were closed.

He focused on the next memory, closing his eyes again, and suddenly, he grew confused.

He seemed to be walking through a garden, that seemed to back onto a thick jungle. The trees were a rich green, the flowers bright. Suddenly, to his left appeared a large grey animal. An elephant! It trumpeted its trunk in greeting, slowly ambling over to greet him, lifting its trunk towards him.

As he lifted his arm to greet the pachyderm, he felt Sarah's muscles tense under his hand, and it drew his attention to the arm that reached out to the elephant. That wasn't his arm. It was small, feminine and olive in colour, an adorned with many golden bracelets.

"What the hell?" he breathed.

He felt Sarah remove her hands from his face, and he opened his eyes to see her own eyes wide with shock. He still held her arms in his and he looked down at her arms. Was it possible?

"Sarah? That wasn't my memory, was it?" he asked slowly, as she let herself sit on the floor.

She was quiet for a moment, her eyes finally focusing on him. "No, it wasn't," she sighed.

He frowned, releasing her arms and watched her for a moment, as she looked down at her own hands that lay listlessly on her legs. How was it possible that he had just seen one of her memories? This wasn't the first time he had seen it either. There were several nights in Bucharest, where he wouldn't have night terrors, but instead would see this same memory, albeit blurry and confusing. The colours were never that bright, nor had he seen the reality of the arms he thought were his own. Admittedly, although the nights he dreamt of this memory were confusing, they offered him a comfort he wasn't familiar with.

He looked back at Sarah, seeing the torment and confusion on her features. "Sarah?" she looked up, meeting his gaze. Bucky couldn't help but notice just how tired she looked, for the first time since he could recall. She looked exhausted. "What did I just see?"

She looked down again, her eyes glazing over ever so slightly. "Me, you saw me, in the royal gardens of Siam Palace." She swallowed, looking up to the ceiling, her eyes appearing to water ever so slightly. "Or to be more precise, you saw my memory of that day."

He stared at her. He knew it was true, he knew the moment he saw it with clarity, but to hear it out loud and confirmed was unbelievable. "H…How?"

She frowned then, seeming trying to figure that out herself. "There's a few possibilities, I'm not entirely sure which one relates to us."

"And they are?"

She seemed to get nervous at his question, chewing on her top lip. "Well, that's where it gets a little…um… interesting?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why?"

"Well…"

Suddenly, Steve appeared from the other wing of the warehouse, his footsteps echoing around them as he hurried in. "We've got to move, we've got some help coming, and we need to find a ride."

Sarah seemed to surge to her feet, whipping around to follow Steve, but Bucky was quick to catch her arm. She turned in alarm, an eyebrow raised when she saw the look on his face. "This conversation is not over," he said firmly.

She looked from his hand, to his face, before putting her own hand on top of his on her arm. "Yes, we can talk about this when all THIS," she looked around them pointedly. "Is over. For now, we've got to stop the doctor."

He nodded, letting her go and hurrying after Steve.

* * *

Sarah sat in the back seat of a beat up old Volkswagon Bug that they had managed to hotwire outside of the abandoned warehouse they had been sheltering in. The smell of mold and stagnant water was appalling, but the scent of the man sitting next to her was some comfort in the current situation.

Bucky looked uncomfortable, squashed into the back seat behind the front passenger seat. Steve had managed to make contact with Sharon Carter, and she had managed to procure them some items to assist them in getting to Siberia to stop the doctor. Thus, they found themselves parked under a bridge, with Sharon waiting for them behind an unmarked government car.

The pair, with Sam sitting in the front seat, watched as Steve walked over to greet Sharon, Sarah noticing immediately the stiffness in his movements.

"Not again," she murmured, more to herself than anyone else, shaking her head slightly and looking out the window beside her.

"He's gonna get awkward," Sam remarked, apparently hearing her mutterings.

They watched on in silence as Sharon opened the boot for Steve to see inside, talking quietly to each other, although Sarah could hear everything they were saying if she focused. Beside her, Bucky was beginning to squirm, trying to get comfortable no doubt, and the sound of the old leather seats rubbing against his jeans was distracting.

"Can you move your seat up?" Bucky asked, looking at Sam.

Sarah raised her eyebrows and glanced sideways at him, and then Sam, watching the exchanged with mild amusement. It was obvious to her that Sam still did not trust Bucky, and she could hardly blame him. To a point, neither did she. She knew he still had some strange programming in his head thanks to HYDRA.

"No," Sam answered, without any hesitation or thought, still focused on Steve and Sharon.

Sarah smirked and rolled her eyes, before looking back to watch Sharon and Steve again. Bucky sighed, before sliding sideways towards Sarah. She looked mildly surprised at him, as his leg brushed against her own, causing her to stiffen slightly. This was still more bodily contact with him than she had ever had, and it made her slightly uncomfortable.

"Sorry," he muttered, trying to shift himself into a position so he wasn't touching her.

"It's okay," she replied, trying to calm herself. She looked at him and offered him a reassuring smile. He stared at her in awe for a moment, before looking back towards Steve and Sharon. She followed his gaze, watching the pair with interest as their body language began to change. "Oh…" she said, beginning to grin.

"What?" Sam asked, not taking his eyes off the scene in front of them.

"The pheromone levels around them have altered slightly," she whispered, raising her eyebrows. Sam whipped his head around to gape at her, before looking back to the pair.

They all continued to watch, as Steve and Sharon leaned in closer, and finally kissed. Sarah looked away, looking to Bucky and Sam, both of whom never tore their eyes away from their friend, both grinning proudly.

"You guys have no sense of decency," she said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes, before looking to see Sharon and Steve pulling away from each other, looking sheepish.

"What?" Sam retorted defensively. "The guy hasn't had any action in how long?"

"75 years, give or take," Sarah replied without a second thought, shrugging. Bucky looked to Sarah incredulously. "I mean kissing, I'm pretty certain he's still a virgin. You'd know more about that than me."

Bucky's face paled slightly, and he looked sad, as they looked to see Steve reach into the boot of Sharon's sedan and pick up their gear. Sam was quick to get out of the car and assist him, leaving Bucky and Sarah alone.

She looked back at Bucky, to see him looking down at his hands, his face dark. "Bucky, you okay?"

"I don't remember," he replied.

She frowned, cocking her head to one side. "Huh?"

"I don't remember things like that, about Steve and I as kids," he hissed. She looked at him in surprise, he was frustrated. She bit her bottom lip slightly, realizing what she had said may have been a little insensitive, given the current situation.

She sighed, glancing back to see Sam and Steve discussing their gear. She looked back to Bucky, before reaching across and grabbing his hand in hers. He looked up at her in alarm, but she was quick to reach up, placing her other hand on his cheek and closing her eyes.

Bucky stiffened under her touch, but didn't pull away, instead turning his hand over to hold hers too, and she quickly began to sift through his mind. It didn't hurt so much to do it anymore, she was getting better at using these powers and it seemed to hurt him less too. She found the bank of memories she was after, pulling them to the forefront of his mind.

Steve and Bucky, at the arcade. At the fair, Bucky with a girl on his arm, Steve awkwardly tailing behind them, like a third wheel. The pair of them heading to the local dance hall. Jostling each other and Bucky teasing Steve about a crush he had on a girl.

She felt Bucky squeeze her hand gently, opening her eyes to see Bucky with him own shut, a single tear sitting in the corner of his left eye. She carefully moved her thumb, breaking the contact and ceasing the control over his memories, wiping away the tear.

He opened his eyes slowly, looking back at her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Buck," she replied, dropping her hand from his face and patting his hand that held hers. She went to move back into her seat, but Bucky didn't release her. She looked at him expectantly.

"Thank you, and I'm sorry," he murmured, running his thumb along the knuckles of her hand.

She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"I'm sorry, for everything that I've done, but also, thank you, for never giving up on me," he said, bowing his head slightly, looking up at her through his lashes.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, grimacing and then sighing. "Don't go thanking me, Bucky. If it weren't for Steve, I would have killed you, several times over." She pulled her hand out of his, listening to his heartbeat, steady as a rock. "If it wasn't for the fact that Steve was almost trying to kill himself trying to save you, I might have succeeded."

Bucky stared at her for a moment, before bowing his head down again. "It would have been no less than I deserved." She watched him for a moment, before settling back into her seat as Sam and Steve returned to the car.

Steve turned around in his seat to look at Bucky. He frowned slightly, looking from him to her. "Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," they both answered at the same time. Steve and Sam looked at each other and frowned.

"Alright, well, Clint is going to meet us at the airport around noon, so we better get a move on," Steve said, starting the car. Sarah looked to Sam, who eyed her off one more time, raising his eyebrows at her, as if to confirm she was indeed, fine.

She offered him a nod and looked back out the window.

* * *

**Hopefully I get some mojo back and can pump another chapter out soon.**

**xo**

**Krayzee**


	7. All This Time

**Whoops, life got in the way again.**

**I mean, I guess in this case, it's kind of understandable? Heh, what a year its been.**

**You've waited long enough, so I'll keep it brief.**

**Enjoy**

**xo**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**All This Time**

The ride to the airport was quiet for Bucky, he didn't have anything to say, instead, his thoughts lingered on what Sarah had said to him, while Steve and Sam had discussed Clint Barton and Wanda Maximoff meeting them at the airport with a ring in.

He knew he had done terrible things, and he knew that he truly deserved to die for what he had done. The thought of Sarah being the one to take his life hurt, but at the same time, he would consider it a blessing if she was the one to stop him. She was the only one who would be able to, and would only ever do it out of necessity. He knew Steve was stubborn, hell, the man would take a beating just to make a point. And if what Sarah said was too, he did take one, and it was only her intervening that stopped him from killing himself trying.

Steve parked the car inside the multi-storey car park of the airport, pulling in beside a transit van. The four got out of the car, Sarah holding the door open for Bucky.

"Thanks," he murmured, stepping aside as she shut the door. They both turned and watched as Steve and Sam walked over to greet Clint and Wanda as they exited the van. "That's it?" Bucky asked quietly.

Sarah huffed slightly, Bucky glancing sideways and seeing the slightest smirk on Sarah's lips. "There's someone else in the van, I don't recognize the scent though," she explained, nodding towards the back of the van. "Between you and me, she," she motioned subtly towards Wanda. "Could probably wipe the floor clean of all of us, with just the swipe of one of her hands and a little brain power."

Bucky frowned at Sarah, before looking to the young woman standing across from Steve. He recognized her vaguely, like he may have seen her before while under HYDRA control.

The pair watched as Clint moved back to the van and pulled open the side door, revealing a man lying down in the back. He jumped at the sudden noise of the door, looking around wearily, as if just roused from sleep. "What time zone is this?"

"Whose that?" Bucky muttered.

Sarah frowned, looking at him. "No idea." The man was smaller in stature, similar to Clint Barton's frame, with dark shaggy looking hair and wore a pair of jeans with a tshirt.

"I thought you were supposed to know everyone like this?" Bucky muttered, not taking his eyes off the man.

"Well, thanks to you and Steve coming back and causing a commotion, I've been out of the spy game for a while, buddy," she retorted in annoyance.

Bucky glanced at her sideways and she turned to meet his gaze. He smirked slightly, causing her to narrow her eyes and purse her lips, clearly in an effort not to smile as he saw the corners of her mouth straining. She wasn't actually annoyed at them for coming back, quite the opposite.

They turned and watched the man as he got out of the van, pushed forward by Clint.

"Is he enhanced?" Bucky whispered, leaning towards Sarah.

She sniffed the air. "Not that I can tell."

The pair continued to watch as he seemed to talk in a constant stream, clearly awestruck by Steve. The man looked around and saw the young woman who had arrived with Clint. He was still trying to figure out how he recognized her. "I know you, you're awesome."

"Who is she?" Bucky whispered, leaning towards Sarah again.

"That's Wanda. Teen experiment of…" she trailed off and frowned, before looking at Bucky's face with a grimace. "HYDRA."

He sighed, looking back to the girl. She was another product of HYDRA, like him. "What can she do?"

Sarah looked back to Wanda. "She can manipulate matter, even effect your brain waves so you start seeing illusions." Bucky raised his eyebrows and looked sideways at Sarah again, finding her watching him. "She's a nice girl," she said with a smirk.

"I'll take your word for it."

They continued to watch the outfit before them, Bucky considering what they were about to do. They were going to attempt to highjack some transport and get to Siberia to try and stop the doctor from releasing the other super soldiers.

He noticed Sarah pursing her lips together as she watched Steve speak to the others. "What's wrong?"

She glanced sideways at Bucky, before offering an apologetic smile. "I know you probably don't realise this, but Steve is going to be going against friends. He struggled fighting you, I'm not sure he's got it in him for what's about to happen next."

Bucky watched Steve for a moment as he continued to speak about their current situation to Clint and the newcomers. She was right, he remembered Steve letting him beat him to within an inch of his life. He grimaced and sighed, turning to look at Sarah.

"Can you promise me something?" Bucky began, causing Sarah to also turn to face him. She raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Make sure you protect Steve at all costs and do what has to be done?"

Sarah did something he wasn't expecting. She smiled wryly. He raised his eyebrows expectantly as she leaned in closer to him. "What do you think I've been trying to do all this time?" She grinned, causing him to also smile. She looked strangely maniacal when she grinned at him.

Suddenly, she tensed, looking around suspiciously. Bucky also looked around, trying to find the source of Sarah's concerns.

"It's time," she barely whispered.

"We should get moving," Bucky called to Steve.

"_Dies ist eine Notsituation. Alle Passagiere müssen den Flughafen sofort evakuieren."_

"They're evacuating the airport," Bucky translated, as Sarah quickly moved to the back of the car and reefed open the boot. She picked up his bag that contained his old Winter Soldier uniform, throwing it to him.

"I swiped this on my way out chasing you down," she said, motioning to the bag he caught in his hand. He opened it, finding his old Winter Soldier uniform inside. "I know, it's not a nice thing, putting that back on, but you need something better than denim and a flimsy shirt."

He offered her a grateful smile, before turning to find a quiet spot to change.

* * *

Bucky watched on as Steve stood before Stark, Rhodey, the King T'Challa and Romanoff. Sam was with him, using his drone, Redwing, to try and find them some fast transport to Siberia. Sarah had disappeared to help with recon, doing her magic trick that she had used many times during the war to get them to safety. Although, if he called it a magic trick to her face, she would usually pin him with a glare that would have his blood run cold.

"Sam, check Hangar 5, I can smell fresh aviation fuel from that direction," Sarah ordered through comms.

"Wait one," Sam murmured, looking on his view finder as he was steering his drone. Bucky continued to watch the scene unfolding on the tarmac, as an unknown assailant appeared from behind Steve, taking his shield and landing behind Stark.

"Who is that?" Bucky murmured.

"I think I've seen this guy, he's called the Spiderguy or something?" Sarah replied, her voice sounding mildly amused.

Through Steve's comms, they could just make out the chatter. "Thanks. Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better. It's just the new suit… Well, it's nothing, Mr. Stark. It's-it's perfect. Thank you."

"Wait, is that guy…a kid?" Sarah murmured in disbelief.

"What the hell."

Beside him, Sam tensed, peering closer at Redwing's view finder. "We found it, their Quinjet's in hangar 5, north runway."

"Roger that," Sarah replied, as Sam and Bucky got up from their hiding spot and began sprinting through the terminal towards the tarmac. They would need to head downstairs, across the tarmac of the loading area towards the hangars, which would leave them all completely exposed. They needed to hurry.

As they ran, Bucky spotted movement to his right, outside the terminal windows. He turned, seeing the younger member of Tony Stark's team swinging through the air towards them, on what seemed to be some type of web. It landed on the window and began crawling along the windows, keeping pace with them.

"What the hell is that?"

Sam looked to the windows too, grimacing as he ran. "Everyone's got a gimmick now."

Spiderman shot what looked like webbing out and began swinging again, before finally swinging wide of the windows. He quickly changed direction, swinging through the glass of the windows and causing the shattered glass to cascade to the grown. Spiderman swung towards them, kicking away Sam and sending him flying into a far wall.

Bucky skidded to a stop, turning to face Spiderman and he turned his attention to him. Bucky moved to punch him, but Spiderman caught his hand easily, pulling it back and seeming to analyse it.

"You have a metal arm? That is awesome, dude!" he exclaimed in awe. The moment of distraction was all Sam needed to recover before swooping back towards Bucky and grabbing Spiderman, flying him up into the rafters of the ceiling. "You have the right to remain silent!" Spiderman exclaimed, trying to fight off Sam.

Sam released Spiderman, quickly flying away, but Spiderman swung after him, using the support beams and ceiling to keep pace with him easily. Bucky continued running after the pair, trying to keep up and find a way to slow down the Spiderman.

Sam flipped over, flying backwards and firing at Spiderman, causing him to stop on a rafter after avoiding the shots fired.

Bucky ripped a newspaper stand from the floor, hurling it up high into the rafters towards Spiderman.

"Oh god!" Spiderman exclaimed as Bucky quickly ducked behind a pylon, waiting to hear the crash of the newspaper stand making contact. When he didn't hear anything, he carefully peered around the pylon curiously. "Hey buddy, I think you lost this!"

Bucky quickly dove back out of the way as the newspaper stand came flying back towards him, crashing into the pylon and falling to the ground next to him. He glared around the corner as Spiderman seemed to look at him tauntingly, even though he wore a full-face mask.

Sam came soaring in while Spiderman's back was turned, kicking him down from the rafters he was perched on.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" came Sarah's concerned voice over the comms as Bucky began trying to follow Sam and Spiderman as they continued to fight each other while soaring through the terminal.

"Uh, not exactly." Bucky saw Sam and Spiderman crash to the ground. He began to quietly stalk his way towards them, seeing Spiderman jump up onto a pylon before he talking to Sam.

"Are those wings carbon fibre?"

Sam looked at the webbing that was binding his hands to the railing. "Is this stuff coming out of you?"

"That would explain the rigidity-flexibility ratio, which, gotta say, that's awesome, man." Bucky frowned as he looked at Spiderman, mildly confused by his behaviour. By all accounts, he seemed very immature and childish, but everything he had just said seemed on a different level to what they were on.

"I don't know if you've been in a fight before, but there's usually not this much talking," Sam retorted, clearly bemused by the situation.

Spiderman seemed to straighten slightly, as if reminded what he was supposed to be doing. He slung a web across the ceiling, and moved to swing down towards Sam. Bucky took the chance to try and block his kick, jumping in front of Sam, but Spiderman connected with such force that it sent them both crashing through the railing, and falling to the floor below.

The pair sprawled onto the floor, and Spiderman landed on a railing above them, webbing Sam's to the floor so his wings were restrained, and webbing Bucky's metal hand to the floor too. They were stuck.

"Guys, look, I'd love to keep this up, but I've only got one job here today and I gotta impress Mr Stark, so, I'm really sorry."

"Me too, kid," came a voice before a black mist formed around Spiderman.

"AAaahh, what the-"

There was a moment of silence, before Spiderman reappeared, seemingly thrown heavily to the floor. The black mist reformed and Sarah's body appeared again.

"What…What are you?"

"The thing that goes bump in the night," she replied, smirking.

Spiderman began to back away slightly. "Wait, you're that thing that Agent Romanoff was talking about. The vampire."

"Top of your class, aren't you?"

"I don't mean to brag, but…"

She smirked again. "Let me put this simply, kid, myself and those two gentlemen over there are going to leave this terminal and you are not going to be stopping us."

"What makes you say that?"

She moved her hands to behind her back, appearing very relaxed. "Would you like to try and stop me, I welcome you to try." Bucky noticed her eyes seemed to drift towards them and she blinked. He was confused for a moment, unsure of exactly what she was trying to signal to them.

Spiderman moved to sling a web into the rafters above her, but she remained motionless. It was Redwing who appeared instead, catching Spiderman's web and zipping away, dragging a screaming Spiderman along behind it as it crashed out a window and disappeared into the sunlight.

Sarah sighed, shaking her head before looking to Sam. "What took you so long?" she demanded.

"What took YOU so long?" Sam demanded in return, trying to maneuver himself out of the webbing he was caught in. Sarah jumped down from the landing above and landed lithely next to them. "Can you get us out of this stuff?"

She peered down at the webbing that held them in place. "This is very fascinating, I've never seen anything like this before. And you say that it came out of him?"

"Can we worry about this another time?" Bucky demanded as the hydraulics in his arms whirred loudly as he tried to break free from the webbing.

She clicked her tongue against her teeth, before pulling a knife from her thigh holster and slicing through the webbing that bound them. The pair got back to their feet and brushed themselves off. "Rescuing you is becoming a bad habit, Bucky." She looked pointedly at him as she resheathed her knife.

"Wouldn't want to take that enjoyment away from you, now, would I?"

"As much as I love when you two reminisce, we've got somewhere to be," Sam interjected.

They nodded, and the trio turned and sprinted through the terminal.

* * *

**This is very short, I know, but I haven't been able to write this one as well as previous ones for some reason. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things again.**

**xo **

**Krayzee**


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